The Princess Next Door
by Joy Katie
Summary: What happens when Emma's favourite fairytale princess moves in next door to her? [My 1st Snowing Fic!] [AU]
1. Authors Note

The Princess Next Door

 **Authors Note**

So I read a story years ago that was either twilight or hunger games or idk but I had my idea for this, and then I realised there were similarities to that. If you know that story, I am not copying it. Tell me what it is and I'll give credit to the author for the idea or something. But I have wanted to write a Snowing fic for so long and I just had an idea and couldn't stop writing. Here's my new story. I wanted this to be pretty AU and so I figured I would base it somewhere I visited over summer – NO COPYRIGHT or whatever, in case that's necessary. A lot of things mentioned in this story are my own experiences from my trip over the summer, combined from Seattle, Monterey Bay, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Victoria.

I was originally going to post as a o/s when it was finished, but after my America trip, work got crazy and I started my masters and life was hectic so I am going to post in chapters when I am nearly done. Saying that, I will probably end up with long delays like with my Captain Swan fic.

I will post a 'spoiler' I guess, and then if I get enough views or things telling me people would read it, I will post the first chapter soon enough.

So here it is, a little taste of 'The Princess Next Door'.

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" _I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard, nice to meet you both. When David released her hand, she knelt down so she was more on the young girls eye line and held out her hand for a shake too. Emma grinned up at her, and instead of shaking her hand, she wrapped her tiny arms around her neck, eliciting a gasp from the older woman._

" _You look like Snow White. Did you know that? She's my favourite princess. Do you have a favourite princess? What about the baddies? Do you have a favourite? Are you scared of any? I don't like any of the baddies because they're mean to the princess'."_

" _Emma, calm down, let Miss Blanchard breathe…" He shook his head at the small child, smiling fondly at her, before giving yet another apology. "I'm sorry, Emma is quite excitable when it comes to meeting new people, especially when they do indeed bear a resemblance to her favourite princess."_

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Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 1

Thank you guys! Thought I'd post the first real chapter before I go to work so the views etc. cheer me up after I get back. This is my first Snowing fic so I hope you enjoy!

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 **Chapter 1**

"Daddy! Daddy! There's a lady outside with a van. She looks like a princess! Daddy get up, she's all alone, we have to help!"

David groaned as his precocious four year kneed him in the gut as she clambered onto his bed, waking him for the wonderful dream he was having. He pretended he was still sleeping, as the excited young girl began to tap his forehead. He opened his eyes quickly as he lifted his daughter from where she was kneeling on his chest to where she was kneeling on the bed beside him, before tickling her until she begged him to stop. She jumped from the bed, with a graceful clumsiness that only kids seemed to possess and ran to the window, jumping on her tippy toes and pointing until David joined her.

He merely wanted to placate his little princess, but one glance out of the window, at the pixie haired brunette struggling to carry boxes to the newly purchased house next door and he knew he had to help.

"Go and get dressed Em, and we'll go and see if she needs any assistance. If she says no, you're to leave her alone, ok?" Emma was a smart child, but she had not yet learned how to bluff. So when she responded with a "yes daddy" and a shake of her head, David grinned, pushing her gently out of the door so he could dress. "Put your boots and jacket on ok, it's still early and a little cold." This time she nodded her head, and skipped out of the room to do so.

By the time he was dressed and had pulled on his own jacket, he saw Emma already waiting by the door, having found her winter hat and mittens. David rolled his eyes. His little girl was four going on 14, and seemed to have a perfect understanding of sarcasm. He made her remove them, placing them on the table next to the door, ruffling her hair. "Daddy can we go get pancakes for breakfast before the park?"

Raising a brow, the blonde man nodded, having promised her last week if she'd was good for the babysitter while he was at work, that they would go to the diner for breakfast. "Of course princess, whatever you want." Hand in hand, the pair made their way towards where the moving van was parked. As soon as the woman stepped out of what was looking like her new house, Emma let go of her father's hand and ran towards her, surprising the woman who yelped at the sudden appearance of the pint size blonde.

"Hi. I'm Emma, me and daddy live just there and he saw you and wanted to help. What's your name? I like your hair but why is it so short?" The woman looked startled at the monologue coming from the little girl in front of her, and glanced around looking for whichever parent the child belonged to. She saw him, standing by the van that held her whole life, looking adorably at the miniature, feminine version of him. When he noticed her looking at him, he waved, mouthing an apology as he walked over to her, getting hold of Emma's hand before she could run off again.

"Hi there. I'm sorry to bother you. I am David Nolan, this is my daughter Emma, and we live next door. This little devil wanted to come and meet her new neighbour, see if you needed any help." The woman was smiling, and held out her hand for David to shake.

"I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard, nice to meet you both. When David released her hand, she knelt down so she was more on the young girl's eye line and held out her hand for a shake too. Emma grinned up at her, and instead of shaking her hand, she wrapped her tiny arms around her neck, eliciting a gasp from the older woman.

"You look like Snow White. Did you know that? She's my favourite princess. Do you have a favourite princess? What about the baddies? Do you have a favourite? Are you scared of any? I don't like any of the baddies because they're mean to the princess's."

"Emma, calm down, let Miss Blanchard breathe…" He shook his head at the small child, smiling fondly at her, before giving yet another apology. "I'm sorry, Emma is quite excitable when it comes to meeting new people, especially when they do indeed bear a resemblance to her favourite princess."

"Well it's quite alright. It's a pleasure to meet young Emma." She smiled warmly at the little girl who took her hand and turned on her heel, marching towards the open back of the van. Mary Margaret followed with a laugh and David trailed behind.

"Come on Snow, daddy is going to help you with the boxes, he can carry and you can tell him where to put stuff and then you're coming to breakfast with us ok?"

"Uhhh, maybe you should ask your dad little one, I'm sure he doesn't want a stranger tagging along to your family time." She let go of Emma's hand and lifted a box from the van, placing it on the floor, before lifting one of the sofa cushions and handing it to Emma. "Can you do me a favour and take that inside for me?" The little girl nodded, eager to have been given a grown-up task and ran for the door, her excited laugh fading as she went through the door. Snow glanced at David who was stood, looking at the door where his daughter had disappeared through. "She's special that one, I know that even 5 minutes after meeting her."

David's returning smile was proud, and he nodded his agreement. "She's a little spitfire alright. I'm sorry about her forwardness, she's always been good with people." He paused glancing to the front door and back to the brunette. "She's right though you know, you are welcome to join us for breakfast. I can't imagine you've had much time to get groceries."

Before she could answer, the small burst of energy known as Emma came barrelling towards them, bumping into David's legs with an 'oomph'. Without missing a beat, Mary Margaret passed her another sofa cushion, passing it to the small child. She picked up a box labelled kitchen, and gestured towards the van for David to pick something and the three of them headed for the house. Snow dumped the box on the kitchen counter, and the three of them unpacked the van for another half hour before they stopped for a drink. David made a quick trip back to his house to get some fresh orange juice and milk so they could make coffee, as Emma helped Mary Margaret search through the boxes for mugs. After their break, and the group agreement to just dump everything anywhere there was space so they could get the van unpacked, it only took another hour before the van was empty and the house was a mess.

Having already agreed to join them for breakfast, if only to check out the local diner scene, David and Emma left Mary Margaret to change and get ready, while they returned to their house, swapping their boots and jackets, for more weather appropriate wear. They soon met their new neighbour at the corner of her yard and they set off down the street. Mel's Drive-In Diner was only a handful of blocks away, but their early morning workout had exhausted the three of them, especially Emma, so she went from holding David's hand, to walking between the two adults, gripping both their hands tightly, looking between them as she babbled about her favourite Disney movies.

"Guess what Snow, daddy told me that if I am good for the rest of the summer, we can go to Disneyland before I go to school. I'm gonna be in kindgarten. Daddy told me that I can wear my princess dress for the first day but what if my teacher doesn't like princesses, then they might not like me. What do you think Snow?"

"You know sweetheart, you can just call me Mary, that's my name, and wow, kindergarten? That's a big step. I'm sure your new teacher will love you, no matter what you wear, but I do think your princess dress sounds awesome!"

When they arrived at the diner they were seated quickly and Emma got to the colouring page straight away, while the adults perused the menu. "I don't know if you've eaten in a Mels before, but I recommend the corned beef hash, avocado toast, or the pancakes. I'd recommend the milkshakes, little miss certainly loves them, but not for breakfast so…"

Snow nodded along to his suggestions, using the crayons that had been placed on the table for Emma to doodle on the paper place mat in front of her. "Pancakes sounds perfect right now. What about you princess?" Emma barely looked up from her colouring as she spoke to them both.

"Daddy said I can have pancakes, but can I have a fruit cup too please Snow?" Mary Margaret looked to David who nodded, and Snow couldn't help but smile.

"Of course you can sweetheart."

"I think I'll go for the corned beef hash with hash brown. And a large coffee." He gestured to the older woman stood at the counter, who quickly ambled over holding a coffee jug.

"Well well, look who it is. How's my favourite little munchkin?" Emma looked up from her colouring with a huge beam.

"Granny hi! Can I get a fruit cup with my pancakes please? Is Ruby here? She said next time I was here she'd colour with me." With the one sided conversation clearly already boring her, she turned back to her colouring and puzzle paper, leaving David to introduce Mary Margaret to Granny and give their order. It was delivered with the usual speed and flourish and soon the three of them were digging in, hungry from their earlier work. David cut up Emma's pancakes while she speared pieces of chopped melon and strawberries with her fork, and she ate a piece of her pancakes every time she found one of the words in her word search.

There was one piece of pancake left and one word to find, but by the time she had found 'milkshake' on the word search, they had been joined by Ruby who had stolen the last bite of pancake from the little girls plate. By the time she finally looked up and noticed, all three adults were watching David's mini-me, waiting for a reaction, the only one of which was Emma clambering on Ruby's lap to show her the drawing she had done. David and Mary Margaret had been discussing the diner and her move to California so hadn't noticed a rather poorly drawn picture of Mary Margaret in the distinctive, only because of its colour, Snow White outfit surrounded by a mish-mash of flowers and hearts.

"Ruby, this is Snow, she lives next door and she has a blue kitchen." Used to Emma's quirkiness, Ruby just laughed and shook hands with the other woman.

"Hey, I'm Ruby. I'm this monkey's babysitter when David is working, so you'll be seeing me around sometimes over the next couple of weeks."

"Wait, couple of weeks? School starts in a couple of weeks… I thought you were gonna be around to help with drop off and pick up… What's going on?"

"Ah, yeah, well I meant to talk to you about that David… I'm going away in a couple of weeks. Travelling around Australia and New Zealand with Billy before I go back to college so I won't be around for… well, you know. I wanted to tell you in enough time so you had time to find a new babysitter."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next week passed quickly. David had most of the week off and spent it with Emma, packing a month's worth of fun into one week. There was one evening where he had to go in for a team meeting, leaving Ruby watching princess movies with Emma until she fell asleep. On Saturday morning, David was awoken much the same as the previous weekend with a boisterous four year old jumping on his bed.

"Daddy, do you think Snow will want to come to the aquarium with us?"

"I don't know princess. We can't monopolize all of her weekends you know." Emma looked confused at the term.

"Does she not like monopoly? What about scrabble?" David laughed at the adorable innocence of his little girl.

"No Em, it means we can't make her spend all of her free time with us. She has a life of her own, I'm sure she gets enough of us just living next door…"

"But daddy, she's all alone there. She was sat outside in a chair on her own and she saw me and she waved. We should go say hi."

"Sweetheart, we say hi to her every day. It is…" he paused to check his watch on the nightstand. "Emma it is 6:30am on a Saturday! Go back to bed." Immediately, the young girls face changed.

"I had a nightmare daddy. I don't want to go back to sleep…" David sighed and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, frowning at the four year old.

"What was your nightmare about princess?"

"You were at work and you got hurt and you left me like mommy did." David hesitated before pulling his daughter in for a cuddle.

"You know your mommy never wanted to leave you darling… and I won't leave you either. You know that right?" Emma frowned, shaking her head as she struggled out of David's arms.

"If she never wanted to leave me then why did she?" The younger blonde burst into tears, before she jumped from the bed, running out of the room. Sighing, David called after her waiting for a response. Hearing none, he stood up, slipping on a hoodie emblazoned with SMFD over his pyjamas. He was about to go looking in Emma's room to console his daughter when he heard the front door slam, and in a few seconds he was down the stairs and out of the front door, scanning his front yard for his mini-me.

"David…" Turning at the sound of his name, he saw Mary Margaret stood on her porch, Emma in her arms with her arms and legs holding on tight to their neighbour as she sobbed. With a sigh of relief he ran over and joined the pair, trying to extricate the blonde from the other woman, unsuccessfully. "I'm sorry David, she ran straight to me and won't let go…" The brunette sat down on the rocking chair that was on her porch, still holding on to the child. She nodded to the empty chair, bar a book, beside her, smiling briefly as David picked it up and sat, glancing at the title of 'Once Upon a Time' before his eyes returned to his daughter.

It was quiet, aside from the sobs, and it only took a minute, though it felt like hours to David, for Emma to stop crying. She buried her face in Mary Margaret's sweater as her sobs turned to hiccups and then, cheek still pressed against the woman, looked towards her father. David's heart broke to see his daughter so upset, especially about a woman she barely knew, a woman who had been selfish and prioritised her own needs above her daughters.

After a few more minutes of sitting, Mary Margaret broke the silence, inviting the father daughter duo in for breakfast. David paused, not wanting to impose and take up more of her time, but Emma nodded quickly, making no move to untangle herself. When the three of them walked into the house, Mary Margaret managed to settle the young girl on the sofa with a blanket and cartoons playing quietly on the TV. David had moved straight into the kitchen and briefly apologised to his neighbour while she poured a bowl of cereal for Emma. When she returned, she sat at the counter opposite David, cradling the coffee that he had made her.

"I don't mean at all to pry David, but can I ask what that's all about?"

"It's a bit of a weird story but… I worked with Emma's mother's father, back in New York. He was my boss I guess, and his daughter did some admin sometimes. We ended up spending a lot of time together and I guess we were just comfortable, so we started a relationship. A few months later she was pregnant, and I know she wanted me to propose. So I did. Anyway, we were so busy with work and a newborn, that we didn't really have time to plan the wedding, so we just didn't. And then when Emma was about 18 months old, I came back from work one day to find a handwritten note and her engagement ring, telling me that this wasn't how she pictured her life turning out, and that she 'just wasn't ready' to be a mother…" David sighed, staring down into his coffee mug. "After Emma turned two, we moved here. I couldn't stay there and face the woman who abandoned her daughter every day." He looked up as Mary Margaret covered his hand in hers.

"Emma's smart. She knew Kathryn was her mother, but she was young so she didn't understand that she had been abandoned. Yet. When she started asking where her mother was, I couldn't break her heart. I told her that she had been asked to go to another country and teach in some new schools that had been built… it was all I could think of at the time. She had a nightmare last night, I guess I freaked her out more than they usually do. That might be why she seems to have got so attached to you… she's never had a mother figure before and…"

"Oh David, I'm so sorry, I did not mean at all to intrude… Maybe I should keep some distance from the two of you until she's…"

"Oh, no, I feel it should be us trying to stop bothering you… I have no problem with Emma having a positive female role model in her life. Who's to say that can't be you?"

It took a few moments for Mary Margaret to absorb what he had just said, and she appraised him before she replied. "Well thank you for sharing your story with me. I know it can't be easy just off loading on an almost stranger. I'm just sorry that you and Emma had to go through that. I guess I can understand her reaction this morning…" She was interrupted by a call from the next room.

"Daddy…" David took a deep breath at the sound of Emma calling him and stood, placing his mug in the sink as he walked past it, into the front room where his daughter was waiting. She was cuddled up under a blanket she had retrieved from the back of the couch, the remnants of a milk mustache from where she had clearly drank from the bowl. "Daddy, can we still go to the Pier Aquarium later?" Relieved that her upset from earlier was at the moment, forgotten, David nodded, lifting the young girl from the sofa into his arms, smiling as she clung to him like a monkey. He carried her into the kitchen, seeing Mary Margaret smile at the pair of them as they walked in.

"So Emma and I were going to go and visit the aquarium when it opens if you want to join us?"

Before she could even think about declining the offer, Emma turned her head to face Mary Margaret, nodding fiercely. "I would love too. I think little Miss Emma would need to guide me though, I've never been there before." That was all it took to placate the miniature blonde and she struggled in David's arms until he placed her feet back on the ground. With a quick wave to Mary Margaret, she took her father's hand, pulling him towards the door. David called out a goodbye over his shoulder as he made towards the door.

"Come around at noon-ish and we'll drive to the aquarium." David just about heard her 'ok' in response as the door closed behind him.

Emma spent the next couple of hours keeping herself busy, while David read up on his first aid, preferring to refresh his memory every few months. Late-morning, Emma ran into the study holding a picture of what looked a little like Mary Margaret with long hair and a bow and arrow. "Daddy, do you think Snow will like this? I drawed it for her so I can give it to her at the aquarium. Can I have a snack?"

David was once again cheered up by the way his daughter spoke, and took the picture from her as they made their way into the kitchen. "I will put your picture on the fridge to keep it safe until Mary Margaret gets here, and then you can give it to her. And you have to stop calling her Snow, sweetheart. Her name is Mary Margaret, and I'm sure she'll help you come up with a good nickname for her. Now what would you like for a snack? Carrot sticks and grapes?" Emma's enthusiastic nod was a joy for David to see. He regarded the four year old as he chopped a carrot for her, proud of the way she had come out of her shell and begun to gain confidence. He handed her a plate with the chopped carrot and a few grapes with a grin. "I love you princess."

"Love you too daddy!"

An hour later the doorbell rang, and Emma yelled that she would get it, running to the door before David could. David appeared right behind her as she pulled open the door to see Mary Margaret, who waved at the little girl. The miniature blonde stepped closer to the older woman, taking her hand before she dragged her into the house.

"Snow I drawed you a picture and daddy put it on the fridge so you have to come and see it before we go and see the fishes. Daddy said I can't call you Snow, so you have to tell him I can ok because you look just like Snow, look." By the time she had finished talking, they had reached the fridge, and Emma was pointing at the picture, hanging above where she could reach. Mary Margaret unstuck the drawing and began to examine it, her smile growing as she took it in.

"This is amazing Emma, you have such a talent… you know what, I love it when you call me Snow. It's a unique name, no one else calls me Snow, and it makes me feel like a princess."

Emma looked up at her, confused. "What does you neek mean?"

"Unique… it means one of a kind. Special. Just like you are, Emma." David had been watching from the doorway, and the beam on Emma's face when Mary Margaret said that made his heart melt. He held his breath when Emma launched herself at the woman's knees, hugging her tight, and released the breath in relief as Mary Margaret knelt down to return the hug. "Come on sweetheart, let's go find your daddy so we can go and see some fish."

It was then that David made his presence known, clearing his throat as he stepped properly into the kitchen. "Alright guys, if we leave now, then we can get there just after it opens and it won't be too busy." He picked Emma's coat and shoes up from the hallway, passing them to her as he pulled on his own jacket, and within a few minutes, they were in the car, heading towards the aquarium.


	4. Chapter 3

**Please see AN at the end of the chapter. Has a kind of spoiler so skip if you don't want to see it.**

 **/The majority of this chapter comes from my visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey Bay, California over the summer, which was amazing./**

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 **Chapter 3**

They arrived a little after 12:30 and David paid for the tickets while Mary Margaret and Emma looked over the map, planning their route. They planned to see the birds first, before seeing the marine mammals. While David wasn't listening, Emma had convinced Mary Margaret that they needed a lunch break between the marine animals and the octopuses. The group of three had a quick look around the section of the aquarium displaying the history of the cannery, before moving onto the closed exhibit of the birds.

Emma was mesmerized, seeing the birds then putting her hand in the sting ray tanks. David and Mary Margaret watched as the young girl held a crab and marvelled at a video of how a starfish ate. They made their way to the next exhibit walking side by side, and for the second time in as many weeks, Emma took the hands of both adults, walking between them. After admiring the sea lions, seals and otters, they decided to try their luck in the restaurant, Emma cheering when they were led to a table near the windows with a view to some more marine mammals. Emma had ordered her obligatory chicken fingers and broccoli, while David and Mary Margaret had both ordered something from the sustainable fish menu. After their food came, Emma began dipping all her broccoli florets in ketchup and then putting them back on the plate to 'marinate' them while David tucked into his softshell clam chowder, and Mary Margaret picked at her Alaskan shrimp salad.

"Daddy can you help me cut my chicken please?" Before he could lean over and do what she asked, his phone rang. Mary Margaret watched Emma's face drop, and she looked at David to see him looking at Emma apologetically. The brunette frowned as David got up from the table and walked to a quieter spot to answer the phone, and reached over to help the young girl cut up her food.

"Is everything ok sweetheart?"

"No. Daddy has to go. That's his work music." It was then that David returned to the table, and Mary Margaret could tell from his expression that Emma was right.

"I'm sorry princess…" A glance at the child caused her to frown, at the devastated look on her face. With a sigh, she stood from her chair.

"It's ok daddy. I'm ready to go…" She sighed and hung her head as she picked up the map from where she'd left it on the table. Mary Margaret looked between the father daughter pair and hesitated, standing too before speaking.

"David… what's going on?"

"That was work. There's an emergency, I have to go, and have to drop little miss at Ruby's before I go…"

"Wait, what if I took her home later, after we're done here? I can keep her at mine and then when you're done, she's only next door… What do you think?" David paused, glancing down at the four year old who was pretending not to listen, but was nodding at the floor.

"If that's ok with my little girl, it's ok with me…" Mary Margaret knelt down in front of the small blonde, ready to ask if she was ok with what she had proposed, and was winded as said child launched herself into her chest.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The brunette hugged her quickly before standing up so David could say goodbye to his daughter. She turned away as they embraced, giving them a moment, and then waved at David as he wrote down his number on a napkin and made his way quickly out of the restaurant.

"Are you still hungry sweetheart, or do you want to go and look at some more fishes?" Emma shook her head and took Mary Margaret's hand as they paid and left the restaurant. They went up to the next floor, the older woman pointing out the large models of sea creatures that were hanging from the ceiling, before they made their way to the cephalopod section watching the different species of octopuses. It wasn't long before Emma started lagging, walking slowly with her head hanging. "How about we stop at the patisserie outside and then we'll get a cab home? I need someone to help me watch all the Disney movies I bought this week…" Mary Margaret knew she was upset that her day with her father had been cut short, but she expected at least a smile, so she was surprised when she got no reaction.

The older woman continued to walk hand in hand with the young girl, stopping in front of the gift shop. "Alright Emma, why don't you pick something that you like, and something that your daddy might like." She nodded despondently, and walked over to the stuffed animals, picking up the sea otter with pup teddy. Mary Margaret kept an eye on her while looking through the bookstore section of the shop, finding a book called 'Pup's Supper'. She picked up a hooded sweatshirt, and a book about birds, her secret passion, before going back to where Emma was stood, appraising a glass seahorse that had caught her eye. She took all the purchases to the till and paid for them, letting Emma carry her sea otter in one hand, while she took the other.

They made a quick stop in the patisserie over the road of the aquarium, ordering the first piece of cake that Emma pointed to, and an apple tart to go, before making their way to a cab stand. When there was still barely a reaction from Emma, Mary Margaret turned to face her, tilting her chin up.

"Hey… I can see you're upset about something. Do you want to tell me what's up?"

It took a while for a reply, but eventually one came. "I'm just worried about daddy."

"Why are you worried about him honey, he's at work…"

"He could get hurt and leave me like my mommy did, and then I'll be all alone." Her bottom lip began to wobble, and Mary Margaret could tell she was about to cry.

"I can't believe I haven't asked this before, but what exactly does your daddy do?"

"He fights fires."

By the time they arrived back Emma had fallen asleep, and with some difficulty, Mary Margaret carried her, along with the gifts and cakes into her house, settling her onto the sofa under a blanket. She quickly texted David and told him they were back at the house, and added a quick 'be safe' before sending. For some reason, ever since she'd found out what David actually did for a living, she'd had a knot in her stomach that wouldn't let up. She figured she'd let Emma take a quick nap before she got her up, not wanting to ruin her sleep for that night.

Mary Margaret spent some time looking through the boxes, still stacked in the spare room that she was planning to make her craft room. She found some items she figured Emma might enjoy, made her a sandwich remembering she hadn't eaten her lunch, and found one of the DVD's that had ended up in a box in the bottom of her wardrobe. She'd pulled out her favourite, Beauty and the Beast, and searched the box for Snow White, which unfortunately she did not have.

When Emma had been asleep for an hour and a half, Mary Margaret woke her with a gentle shake. She'd put the DVD in the player, set out the sandwich, cake and a glass of milk, and laid out the craft items she'd found. It took Emma a few minutes to wake up properly, but when she noticed the movie and the crafts she seemed to cheer up quickly. The older woman made sure she ate a little, pressing play on the movie. When she had finished her sandwich, the little girl turned to the woman she deemed to be a princess.

"Has my daddy called? He always calls Ruby to tell me he's safe. Has he called?" Mary Margaret frowned, not sure if what she was saying was the truth.

"Not yet sweetheart, but I promise, as soon as I hear from him, I'll let you know. He's probably…" She was interrupted by her phone ringing. When she answered it and heard David's voice, the knot in her stomach loosened. Without a word, she passed the phone over to the little girl, who was smiling. The four year old looked as relieved as she felt.

"Daddy! Did you fight the fires? Did you save people? Are you ok?" Mary Margaret could hear David's laugh from the other end of the phone.

"Yes princess, we fought the fires. Everyone is safe. I am fine. Are you being good for Mary Margaret?" Emma nodded, causing said woman to smile, before Emma realised her mistake.

"Yes daddy. Snow says we can watch a movie and she has colours and stickers and paper and she got cake and I miss you and come home soon ok?" Mary Margaret didn't hear the reply on the other end, but it warmed her heart at how obviously close the father and daughter were. The pair spoke for a few more minutes before an alarm rang in the background. Listening carefully, Mary Margaret could hear the end of the call.

"Ok princess I have to go. Be good ok? I love you."

"I promise daddy. I love you more."

"Love you most sweetheart. Bye-bye".

Emma handed the phone back to Mary Margaret and smiled widely at her. "I told you. He's fine, we can watch the movie now." The young girl settled back onto the sofa, turning back to the screen and the pair watched the movie in silence for a while. When it finished, Emma settled on the floor in front of the coffee table, utilising the colours and paper that had been left out, after Mary Margaret suggested she draw her favourite scene from Beauty and the Beast.

Used to spending time with young children from when she lived in Maine, Mary Margaret had plenty of activities to keep Emma occupied until her father came to pick her up. They coloured, read stories, Emma helped Mary Margaret plant some bulbs, and by the time they'd made and eaten spaghetti for dinner, Emma was exhausted. David had text before dinner, informing Mary Margaret that he was being kept at the station until 8pm and would be home as soon as possible. She put a kids channel on the TV and gave Emma a cushion and a blanket to get comfy on the sofa while she washed the dishes. When she returned, she found Emma dozing in front of a cartoon, sitting what looked to be uncomfortably straight on the sofa. Mary Margaret moved to sit on the other end of the sofa, pulling her feet up under her.

"You know you can get comfy and take a nap sweetheart, I don't mind feet on my couch." Emma smiled tiredly and curled up in a ball, tugging the blanket up to her shoulders. They sat in silence as the cartoon played until Emma sat up, shuffling over to Mary Margaret, leaning her head on her shoulder. The more tired Emma got, the more she would lean closer to Mary Margaret. When 8pm hit, Emma was sat on her lap, her head on her shoulder, sleeping. Mary Margaret checked her phone to see if David had responded, but there was nothing, and so pulled the blanket over the child to cover her, and switched the channel finding an episode of a show she loved.

About 20 minutes into the rerun of Miami Medical, the doorbell rang. Mary Margaret tried to lie Emma down on the sofa, but her tiny hand was gripping the front of her shirt as she slept. Shifting her so she was cradled on her hip, the brunette walked to the door, checking it was David on the other side before opening it. David looked tired, but his face lit up when he saw Emma. She had woken at the movement, and was looking at her father, bleary eyed but smiling.

"Daddy, you're back. Can we go home? I'm sleepy." She yawned, as if to prove her point but snuggled closer into Mary Margaret, warm against the chilly breeze that was blowing. With difficulty, she passed the sleepy blonde over to her father, stepping back into her doorway.

"Come around tomorrow if you have time, you can pick up her stuff. You'll like the gift she got you from the aquarium, she chose it herself." David smiled at her glancing to Emma who was already asleep on his shoulder.

"Then I'm sure I'll love it. Anyway, I best get her to bed. But thank you for looking after her with no notice… She's not normally good with new people, but she seems to idolise you after only a week so… Just thank you…" With a nod and a goodnight, Mary Margaret waited until David had carried Emma next door before she closed the door, leaning against it. She was damned if she thought she wasn't falling in love with that little girl, and she definitely could not deny she had the littlest crush on that little girl's father.

* * *

 **To the guest reviewer – this is just AU. There is no curse in this story. I don't know if it's obvious yet, and I really didn't want any spoilers but, as someone who was adopted, let me just say, a woman doesn't have to give birth to her child to be her mother. Absolutely no disrespect or rudeness meant. I hope that doesn't prevent you from enjoying the story.**

 **Just adding in a secondary note here to the guest reviewer of this chapter, because I wont be updating for the next week. This is just the beginning. The chapter I just finished writing (5) will demonstrate this is a Snowing romance :') I have to balance it between it being too fast for a relationship to develop and it just taking forever for them to get together. But trust me. MM does not just want David because of Emma.**


	5. Chapter 4

**/So in response to a guest review, I have noticed that the beginning of this story is quite MM/Emma centric. This is, however still a Snowing romance. It will happen, I just have to balance between it being too fast, and Emma/MM eclipsing it. Be patient. I hope it will be worth it./**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The next day David had taken Emma to Mary Margaret's at her request, and they had spent an hour there. Emma had given David the gift she'd bought him, showed him the sea otter toy and the drawing she'd done. They, meaning Emma, had asked Mary Margaret if she was free to spend time with the pair, but Mary Margaret had apologised after stating she was busy.

For the rest of the week the three didn't see much of each other. David worked most days, and Emma spent a lot of time with Ruby before she went away. Mary Margaret spent time preparing for her new job, turning down any invitation from Emma and David to spend time with them. By Friday afternoon, having made slow progress in making friends with anyone else, she hesitatingly accepted an invitation from Ruby to go to the movies with her and Emma. It was Ruby's last day looking after Emma for a long time, and Mary Margaret had tried to decline, but Ruby had told Emma that she wasn't going to see her for a long time, and the first thing Emma asked for was 'my Snow'.

When she arrived at the theatre, she saw Ruby and Emma stood outside, hand in hand, but when Emma saw her, she let go of Ruby's hand and ran for her. Mary Margaret bent forward, catching Emma as she launched into her arms, pulling her into a tight hug. So quiet that Mary Margaret wasn't sure she'd heard it, Emma whispered in her ear.

"I missed you."

"Oh sweetheart, I missed you. Now are you ready to go see a movie? I'm assuming we're going to see the minion one? Unless little miss here is secretly 30 years old?" Emma giggled and shook her head, holding on tight to Mary Margaret.

"Ruby said we can get popcorn, but I didn't know if you wanted candy so we waited. What is your favourite movie snack Snow? Ruby made a new popcorn when you mix the sugary and salty together and it tastes so good! Can I get a soda?"

Mary Margaret laughed, quickly getting used to the quirkiness of the little girl, but looked to Ruby, unsure what the right answer was to that question. Ruby shook her head with a smirk. "Of course you can't Emma, you are four years old. I doubt your father lets you drink soda, and if he does, I'm going to have a serious talk with him." The older pair chuckled at the look on Emma's face, which made Mary Margaret pause. She knew there was no way David would say no to his little girl if she asked him with her puppy dog eyes.

"Ok little miss, I need you to go and pick me some candy. Nothing sour, nothing fizzy, not too much and don't use your fingers, use the little scoops ok?" Emma nodded, releasing both hers and Ruby's hands, running off towards the candy section. Mary Margaret turned to Ruby as they stood in line for tickets. "I'm sorry about crashing your movie time with Em, Ruby. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how quickly you get attached to that little girl. I've known her for three weeks and every time I see her I just…" She paused, looking back to see how Emma was getting on, shaking her head as she saw her lick a blue M&M before dropping it into the bag. When she turned back to Ruby she saw her nodding.

"I get it. Emma and David used to come to the diner every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning and all the staff at Mel's quickly fell in love with her. She was in nursery and he needed someone to pick her up and look after her while he was at work. Anyway, she seemed to get very attached to me rather quickly so Granny suggested me for the job… but she's a little spitfire when she gets to know someone…" They were interrupted by said little spitfire running back to them, shouting their names, causing others in the room to turn and look at them.

"Rubes! Snow!" The two women looked down at the excited blonde who was holding out a paper bag of candy and a luminescent blue drink. Ruby took the drink with a wink, ignoring the look of disgust on Mary Margaret's face. The three moved forward in the queue as the people at the front moved away, juggling two large sodas and two large boxes of popcorn. Ruby took a swig from the bottle, grinning down at Emma.

"How can you stand to drink that garbage Ruby, it's not as good for you as the bottle says it is." Ruby wiggled her eyebrows and took another drink, sticking her tinged-blue tongue out at the other brunette, smirking at Emma's peals of laughter. The three laughed and joked for a few more minutes until it was their turn at the counter, where Ruby placed the now half-empty bottle and bag of candy that Emma had collected, before lifting the child up to place their order.

"3 tickets to the minions please and some salty sugar popcorn and some lemony water for Snow and can I have some orange juice please?" The old lady behind the counter, whom Mary Margaret could see was named Cora, grinned widely at Emma, nodding along to her order. Within moments she'd rung up the total and was handing Emma the tickets while Mary Margaret paid. Ruby had tried arguing in the line that she would pay, or they would at least split the bill, but Mary Margaret argued that she would need to save all her money for travelling. The three moved out of the way, Emma handing their tickets to the attendant so they could get into the theatre and before long they were settling in their seats, Emma obviously between the adults. As they were so near the front, Emma did not need the booster seat that was offered to her, and instead, sat back, looking up at the screen, short enough that Ruby and Mary Margaret were able to talk over her head.

And talk they did.

As the previews played, the snacks were given out. Ruby placed the popcorn between herself and Emma, passing the flavoured water to Mary Margaret. The older brunette opened the bag of candy Emma had picked, noticing first the fizzy cola bottles and sour gummy worms and noticed Emma was pretending not to look at her. With a smirk, she dropped the sour and fizzy candy on the top of the popcorn, assuming Emma would be eating it before the movie had even started.

By the time the movie had begun playing, the pair had begun conversing. Mary Margaret told Ruby about her life before California, and Ruby shared her future travelling then college plans. Ruby explained that there were very few women in her social group, and that it was nice to have someone new around, to which Mary Margaret responded about how her work used to keep her so busy she never had time for friends. They talked quietly, seeming to always find something to discuss whenever the conversation lulled, with the both of them ignoring Emma's repeated requests for them to 'shush'. About an hour into the movie, the young blonde had seemingly had enough of the hushed whispers, and stood, turning her back to the screen to face them both, her hands on her hips.

"I am trying to listen. If you two can't shush, I will tell daddy and you will get in trouble!" The serious tone from the young girl caused both women to laugh, quickly stifling it behind their hands. She glowered again at the brunettes before turning back to the movie. When Ruby threw a piece of popcorn at the unsuspecting woman, Mary Margaret shook her head and threw it back. As more and more pieces pinged her, a few hitting Emma, and many missing altogether, the older woman turned with a practised glare at the childish adult.

"What are you, 12? Did you not hear Emma, if you don't stop, she'll get David to tell you off." She turned away, trying to hide the blush that caused her cheeks to flush as she thought about David, therefore not noticing Ruby piercing her with a knowing stare. Mary Margaret couldn't help but glance adoringly at the little girl next to her, enthralled in the movie and oblivious to everyone around her. With a sigh, Mary Margaret looked back to the movie, struggling to follow along to the story line, quickly beginning to daydream. It wasn't until she felt a poke between two of her ribs that she was drawn out of her daydream, and she noticed the lights in the theatre had come on and the room was emptying.

"Come on Snow, it's time to go. Daddy will have finished work by now so we can go to the spaghetti factory for dinner, and I want you guys to come with me. Mary Margaret nodded absentmindedly, checking where they'd been sat for any leftover trash, finding none, and the three walked out of the room together. Emma was the first to notice the large cardboard minion propped against the wall and ran to it, staring at it in awe.

Disposing of the trash she had collected, Mary Margaret straightened, and when she noticed Emma's face, she pulled out her cell to take a picture of Emma with the minion. Ruby quickly made her way over and knelt down, pulling Emma in front of her, posing for the picture. She got a number of pictures of them together and Emma alone, and sent the relevant ones to either David or Ruby.

As they walked out of the theatre, Ruby linked her arm with Mary Margaret's and watched the small blonde as she skipped ahead in front of them.

"Emma Jamie Nolan, you know better than to run so close to the road, stop right there!" The little girl stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and turned to face the two women, guilt clear on her face. Ruby stopped in front of her, kneeling down so they were face to face. "You know I'm going away soon sweetheart. I don't want the last time I see you before I go to be the last time I ever see your adorable smile if you were to get hurt…" Mary Margaret hesitated as tears began to drip down the four year olds cheeks, causing Ruby to instantly pull her into a hug. "Come on ladybug, it's time to get you home to your daddy."

Emma nodded biting her lip as she clung onto her babysitter, not allowing her to stand up without picking her up. The three walked through the theatre parking lot to Mary Margaret's car, making plans for the rest of the evening. Mary Margaret explained she had to go and pick up some shopping, but then she would be home, giving Ruby enough time to get Emma home so the little girl could convince David to make their daddy-daughter date a group meal, at her own request. As they stopped at the older brunette's car, she turned to face her new friend and the young girl, smiling lightly at the pair. Emma was clinging tightly to Ruby, so Mary Margaret merely tucked her hair behind her ear with a smile.

"I'll see you soon sweet pea. Ruby will take you home and I'll be back soon ok and we can talk to your daddy about preparing for school. Be a good girl for Rubes. Getting no response, she waved at the pair, driving off when she saw Ruby reach her car and begin to strap the blonde in. The older woman drove to the store quickly, planning on getting a few things for a bon voyage party for Ruby. She knew that once Emma asked David, there would be no way he would say no to her. He liked and knew how much Emma adored her, and even though she had not seen him much over the week, his texts had clearly shown he was going to miss her.

* * *

 **/So I have a couple of assessments due in a few weeks meaning I will be writing less. I have maybe one or two prewritten chapters all ready to go, but I won't be getting much done, meaning once they are posted, there will be a delay for the other one. I will keep writing though, just have to prioritise school./**


	6. Chapter 5

**/Ok, so. I realise that this has been very MM/Emma centric. That is necessary for the way it is going at the minute. If that means you want to stop reading, so be it. But I will endeavour to add more Daddy Charming. I had written another 2/3 chapters prior to the posting of this chapter, but I am making sure that the chapter after is Daddy Charming, and I will work on adding more of that in. I realised with my IMA fic that I focused on more of a Mama Snow/Emma relationship, I guess just because I love their relationship, and most of the fics I read are Daddy Charming centric. But I in no way think of them as unequal parents. Anyway. The premise of the story is MM as Emma's babysitter while David works, and a MM/David romance, but I will work harder on making it more inclusive with David./**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Mary Margaret was nearly done with her grocery shopping when she got a text from Ruby, informing her they'd arrived, and David had invited them both to the old spaghetti factory with them before Emma had even asked. As she reached the bakery aisle she spotted a red velvet cake, and knew instantly it was perfect. She got them to ice a message on it as she went back to the front of the store to pick up a card and a few decorations, stopping at the book section as she saw a book she thought Emma would love. She returned to pick up the cake and within minutes she was on her way home with the shopping, with a quick stop at the spaghetti factory to make a booking, and permission to decorate their reserved table.

When she arrived home she put away the groceries, and changed, before making her next door with her little gift for Emma. David opened the door, greeting her with a smile that made Mary Margaret's breath catch in her throat. He stood aside, allowing the shorter brunette to enter his home, and she followed him to the main room where Ruby was sat with Emma, painting her nails a pastel shade of pink. Emma noticed her first and grinned widely at her neighbour, turning back to Ruby to check she could move her hands. "Snow! We're going to go and get spaghetti, will you come with us? Daddy said you would but I wanted to ask because Ruby goes away tomorrow and leaves me and I don't want you to leave me too."

Mary Margaret frowned at the look of sadness on the four year old, nodding enthusiastically as Emma looked at her pointedly, waiting for an answer. "Of course sweet pea, I'm not going to miss saying goodbye to our favourite lady am I?" Satisfied with her answer, Emma shifted from where she was sitting to wrap her arms around the aforementioned woman, beginning to chatter to her. Mary Margaret turned to David who was leaning against the doorframe, watching the young girl. As if he felt her watching him, he turned to the older woman with a wink. It was then that she remembered the book in her purse, and pulled it out to hand it to the tall blonde who accepted it gratefully, lying it on the side. The pair watched the younger two for a few minutes before David clapped his hands, announcing to the room it was time to go. Mary Margaret moved to the door, standing next to David as they watched the other two.

Hearing it was time for them to go out, Emma jumped up excitedly, and took Ruby's hand, pulling the young woman up from the floor with all her might. Ruby pretended to be stuck to the floor, leaving Emma to wrap both her tiny hands around the woman's wrist, almost twisting it off as she pulled. With a wink to David and Snow, Ruby quickly pulled her hand from Emma's grip, grabbing the little girl by the waist as she pulled her into a hug, tickling her in the ribs. All three adults were beaming at Emma's squeals of delight, Ruby and David ignoring her calls to 'daddy make it stop!'. Watching the pair, and laughing along with Emma, Mary Margaret unconsciously leant against David, her head resting against his chest. She only realised what she was doing when David wrapped his arm lightly around her waist, squeezing her hip, at which time Mary Margaret stood up straight and stepped forward, embarrassed.

As if she could sense the sudden tension, Ruby stopped tickling the four year old and looked to the pair in the doorway. She frowned at Mary Margaret, who was trying to avoid her gaze, and then stood quickly, lifting Emma swiftly into a piggy back. "Come on munchkin, let's go get your jacket and some nice shoes!" Oblivious to anything but the upcoming meal, the young blonde nodded, skipping out of the room with Ruby following close behind. When they left, Mary Margaret tried to follow, but David topped her, catching her wrist in his hand.

"Hey… what's going on?"

"I'm sorry David, I overstepped. I think it's best I don't join you tonight…" David frowned at Mary Margaret's torn expression. He stood silent, for a moment too long until Mary Margaret tried to push past him again.

"Don't be silly, you have to come. Emma wants you there, Ruby wants you there… I want you there…" Mary Margaret blinked up at him, confused.

"I just… David, I… this is crazy." She couldn't stand the intensity of David's gaze, and so, much like Ruby earlier, firmly pulled her wrist out of David's had and pushed past him, calling for Emma so she could follow her voice. When she went upstairs to Emma's bedroom she saw her struggling with the laces on her converse with Ruby trying to talk her through it. Mary Margaret watched and after two times of trying unsuccessfully, Ruby stepped aside and she stepped in. Emma was clearly frustrated and had stomped over to her closet finding a pair of sparkly ballet flats.

"Wait a minute sweet pea. Let's try your laces one last time." She knelt in front of the bed, Emma sat in front of her, and pulled her foot up to where she could reach her laces. Mary Margaret showed her the process slowly, giving her a step by step. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ruby leave the room, heading down the stairs to talk to David.

"Alright pumpkin, so here's how it works. You make two bunny ears… bunny goes around the tree…" She paused after each step, demonstrating to the little girl who was paying avid attention. "Into the burrow… pull tight…" Emma tried it once, the knot slipping loose, but one encouraging nod from Mary Margaret and she tried again, this time successfully.

The small blonde launched herself at the woman and hugged her tight. "Thank you Snow, I've never did it myself before." Mary Margaret sighed as she hugged the child.

"That's great Emma. Listen sweet pea, I can't come to the spaghetti factory with you, but it will be nice for you to spend some time with Ruby before she goes. She's leaving Monday isn't she? So you and your daddy and Ruby can have a nice goodbye dinner."

"What? No. You have to come Snow, daddy said you can and you have to!"

"Yeah, MM, don't be ridiculous, of course you're coming." Mary Margaret glared up at Ruby, noticing she was stood in the doorway with David. Emma noticed her father at the same time and ran to him, looking down at her feet.

"Look Daddy, Ruby I tied-ed my shoes. Snow helped me but I did this one!" David grinned at his little girl, patting on her head, looking to Ruby with a proud smile, seeing the stare off occurring between the brunettes. Ruby raised her brow at Mary Margaret who sighed.

"I… fine. I will accompany my favourite little girl to the spaghetti factory as long as she helps me eat my ice cream." Emma whooped and a few minutes later the group were out of the house. The journey to the restaurant was over fairly quickly and Mary Margaret was pleased to see that they had decorated a corner booth with a bon voyage and balloons. Emma squealed excitedly, and ran to the booth they were being pointed to, and Ruby stopped as she noticed, turning to Mary Margaret with a smile.

"And you were going to try and not come after you did all this. You and I are going to talk later missy." The older brunette just smiled, moving into the booth so she was facing Emma, gesturing for Ruby to sit next to her so she didn't have to sit next to or face David. The group read the menus and chose quickly, ordering drinks and some soup and salad starters. Ruby ordered a cocktail, while Mary Margaret ordered herself a white peach sangria and Emma a Shirley Temple. She focused on the little girl, trying to keep her attention on her and Ruby, hesitant to talk directly to David. When the meals arrived, Mary Margaret tucked into her shrimp carbonara while Emma began to eat her spaghetti and meatballs, quickly covering her chin with marinara sauce. Ruby laughed at the state of the four year old and very soon the other two joined in. The rest of the meal was a happy affair, with Emma making the adults laugh, David telling bad dad jokes, and Ruby talking about where she would be travelling to. Mary Margaret noticed David try and get her attention a few times and eventually she asked him how his food was, but aside from that, they barely interacted.

Emma was oblivious, but Ruby clearly felt the tension. When the waitress came to collect their plates, Ruby excused herself to go to the restroom, gesturing for Mary Margaret to follow her. With a mouthed apology to David and a smile to Emma, the frustrated woman stood, following the tall brunette. When they reached the restroom, Ruby turned to glare at the smaller woman.

"OK you have to tell me what is going on between you two. You've been weird since we were at David's house and I have to be honest MM, I can feel the tension between you two, and yes, I mean the sexual tension." She waggled her eyebrows trying to cheer up the clearly miserable woman. It didn't work. Instead she sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, trying to work out how to say what she wanted to.

"There was… A moment before... When we were watching you and Emma, hearing her laughing. And I just gravitated towards him. To this man I met less than a month ago… and he…" She stopped talking, flushing in embarrassment. Ruby looked intrigued, gesturing for her to continue.

"Go on MM, I'm fascinated." she was still trying to make her friend laugh, but she was genuinely curious, having never seen David as smitten as she knew he was.

"Well he wrapped his arm around me, and I was leaning into him, and it was just so… right. It was comfortable and familiar and I just never wanted the feeling to end. Until it did and I realised I was being a massive idiot." Mary Margaret groaned and looked up at Ruby. "I'm such a fool Rubes… I've known him a few weeks. I can't even… I adore Emma so much. And in a few weeks, I've grown so close to David, I tried to stay away, but." She groaned, burying her head in her hands. "How can I be in love with a man after a few weeks? I just have to distance myself as far from them as I can until I get over this.

A squeak drew Mary Margaret's attention to the mirror, which reflected the open door. The brunette turned to face where the noise had come from and noticed the four year old blonde stood in the open doorway, her lip quivering as tears filled her eyes. "…Emma…"

The child shook her head and ran out of the bathroom, the two adults following closely behind. "Emma wait, stop, let me explain!" Emma had managed to open the second door that led to the restrooms and was on her way to where they were sitting when the woman caught up with her. She picked her up, carrying her back to the small hallway where Ruby was waiting, only setting her down when she had stopped trying to escape. "Emma honey, let me explain what I meant ok?" The small blonde petulantly shook her head, looking everywhere but at her neighbour, even glaring at Ruby.

"You promised. You said you wouldn't leave me like Ruby is. You promised!"

"I'm not leaving you sweet pea. I just thought you might want some time away from me. I've been around a whole lot and I bet you're sick of the sight of me." She tried to laugh it off but Emma wasn't having any of it. She pulled away from the older brunette and stomped her foot, crossing her arms as if she was 14 and not 4. "I hate you!" The girl began to cry again, running back in the direction of their booth. Once again, MM began to follow her, but was stopped by Ruby. Mary Margaret turned back to her, tears pricking her own eyes. She took a deep breath and shook her head, trying to stop the tears from falling, and failing.

"She didn't mean that MM, she's four…"

The tearful woman shook her head again and frowned. "No… she was right… I'm gonna go Rubes, you go back and enjoy the rest of your meal. If I don't see you before Monday, have an amazing time… don't forget to call me."

Ruby hesitated, wanting to stay and comfort her friend, but also wanting to go and explain what was going on to David. "Don't go. Stay and have ice cream."

"There's cake, I already gave it to them to bring out. Just have fun Ruby, I'll see you around." Without another word, she turned to the exit, casting one last glance to the David, who was holding a sobbing Emma on his lap, noticing that Ruby was watching her leave. She waved quickly and was out of the door in moments.

* * *

 **/P.S. I had surgery Tuesday and was planning to study in the afternoon but I got so sick and so couldn't** **(and then developed an infection on Wednesday)** **, so didn't get much writing done lately. I will continue post weekly like usual, but there will probably be a gap after they run out. I will do my best though./**


	7. Chapter 6

**/Firstly, thank you to all the people who keep coming back to read this story. And a massive thank you to those who are reviewing. It really makes me happy to know that people are reading and enjoying my story, it is the reason I write after all. Anyway, I re-read it after a few reviews and I do realise that the MM/David thing seemed to come out of nowhere. I guess I didn't think about that as I obviously have imagined this story in a lot more depth than I seem to have been writing. I've had dreams about it ffs :') I will aim to improve that area too. However, saying that, their relationship does make a big leap in this chapter. I had this and the next chapter fully or almost written when I saw those reviews, and I'm sorry but I wasn't going to delete those chapters and start again. True love doesn't wait! /**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

It was Friday evening, and there were plenty of cabs around. Within half an hour, Mary Margaret was home, in her pyjamas with a cup of hot cocoa, trying not to cry at a soppy movie on the TV. Once again, she failed to keep her tears at bay, and by the end of the movie she wasn't trying to hold them back anymore.

A knock on the door caused her to furiously wipe at her eyes, but she knew she would not be presentable. She sniffed and took a deep breath shaking her head and her hands as if to calm her breathing, before making her way to the door. She had no idea who would be calling so late, she didn't have many friends in Santa Monica, and those she did have she knew would be unwilling to see her. She passed a mirror in the hallway, hanging up above a little table next to the door and sighed at her appearance, before pulling the door open.

"David..?" The tall blonde frowned at the sight before him, and had to physically hold himself back from wrapping her in his arms.

"Mary Margaret, what's going on? Have you been crying?" She shook her head, looking down to the ground in embarrassment.

"What are you doing here David? Where's Emma? Listen, if you came here to yell at me for upsetting your daughter, or to tell me to stay away from you, don't bother. I feel bad enough as it is."

This time David couldn't stop himself, and he stepped forward so he was almost toe-to-toe with the woman who had fit so seamlessly into his and his daughters lives. He grasped her chin gently, lifting so he was looking her in the eye. "First of all, Emma is with Ruby next door. They are playing some game that involves princesses and werewolves. When it comes to upsetting her, she's four. She gets upset when she has to eat her vegetables. As soon as the cake came to the table…" He paused, smiling lightly at her. "Nice touch by the way. Anyway, as soon as she got a slice of cake she was fine." He tried to get her to smile, but it was forced, her face too red and eyes too puffy to be believable. "Now as for the ridiculous notion that I want you to stay away from us. This is exactly the opposite. I came here because I can hold it in no longer. I have waited a long time to find someone who treats my daughter as well as you do…"

"Well yeah, she's easy to love." It was out before she could stop it and the baulked, back to looking at the ground. David wasn't fazed.

"Indeed she is. But that's not why I'm here." She looked up at him quizzically, holding in a breath in fear of what he might say. "Mary Margaret Blanchard, how would you like to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night? Just you and me?"

Mary Margaret had had to hold herself back from agreeing straight away. She stepped back from the door, glancing up at the blonde with a frown. "Alone? But what about Emma? I don't think she'd be happy with us spending time together. She hates me." Just saying it caused tears to spring to her eyes again and she sighed. David shook his head at that and stepped forward again so he was toe to toe, having stepped over the threshold of her house.

"First of all, Ms Blanchard, I say again, Emma is four. She hates bath time. When Ruby explained what was going on she calmed down and asked why you weren't having cake with us. Anyway, I know how much you care for her, and I know how much she loves you. If she really did hate you, I would be more hesitant, but…" The brunette was looking up at him, trying to hide her smile. "Mary Margaret I can't deny it anymore. I've wanted to ask you out since I saw you trying to lift a bookcase, alone, from the moving van. Your connection with my daughter is just a bonus." He raised a brow at her. "It seems you're just trying to avoid letting me down huh?"

She stepped forward so that David stepped backwards, making sure he was no longer stood in the doorway, raising a brow back at him with a grin. "Actually Mr Nolan, there was never a question. Dinner, just you and me, sounds perfect. Pick me up at 7." She leant up to press a kiss to his cheek, before winking and closing the door in his face. With a happy sigh she squealed silently, feeling like a teenager with her first crush.

On the other side of the door, David was grinning, and he stood there for a few moments before making his way back to his house. Ruby was waiting for David in the hallway, ready to gloat. He had expressed his concern to Ruby on their way back from the restaurant, feeling his feelings for her were unrequited. Ruby had snickered, and told him to stop being a girl and just ask her out. His grin when he walked through the door told the young woman all she needed to know and she shook her head, hugging David before walking out the door. She had told Emma that she would be around the next evening to say goodbye, knowing that Mary Margaret would say yes before he even asked her. "I'll be back about 6 tomorrow. Give Emma a kiss goodnight from me…"

Mary Margaret had been panicking all day. It was the first Saturday since she moved in that she hadn't spent most of her time with her neighbours, wanting to not monopolise all of their time. But being alone meant worrying. First she was concerned about how this would affect the future. If it turned out she and David weren't compatible, would he stop her from seeing Emma? Then she started to worry about the date itself. What if it went badly and she made a fool of herself. What if David realised that she was a good babysitter, but would be terrible as anything more? As the day went on, she began to stress about silly things. What would she wear? What if she didn't like anything on the menu? What if she said something that changed his mind about her? As her fears began to get the better of her, she text Ruby, requesting her presence to help her choose an outfit. The pair spent an hour sat around with wine, talking about David and Emma, and then themselves before Mary Margaret questioned her friend on an outfit.

Her job meant she usually dressed rather conservatively, and she didn't own anything she deemed suitable for a date, but Ruby found an adorable three-quarter sleeve red pleated dress and some red heels in the back of her closet, that the older woman felt comfortable wearing and her makeup was kept light.

Before they knew it, it was 6 and Ruby informed MM that she had to go next door, not sure whether David had informed Emma that he was going out, so she wanted to be there just in case. Mary Margaret hugged her friend tightly, Ruby whispering good luck in her ear. She felt better about the upcoming evening just from having someone there to talk it through with, yet when she was alone, she began to panic again.

Instead of talking herself out of her date, she went through to the spare room where she'd stored a few of Emma's things that had been left there and sat on the rocking chair that she had left in there. For some reason, closing her eyes as she rocked, thinking about the family next door calmed her down instead of making her fret. Her worries paled as she imagined herself as part of the perfect little family, looking after Emma, and waiting up for David coming home from work, loving them both. She was surprised when that thought didn't terrify her, and instead she began to daydream about it, baking with Emma after school, grocery shopping with David, celebrating father's day… celebrating mother's day…

After what felt like mere minutes the doorbell rang. Mary Margaret couldn't stop the smile that was covering her face at the images she had conjured in her mind, and it only widened when she saw David at the door, holding a single yellow and red tipped rose. Having a passion for horticulture alongside her ornithology, she knew exactly the meaning behind the flower, and she giggled, knowing David had likely googled the meanings of the colours. She raised her brow at him and he grinned at how quickly he'd been caught out. "Emma chose it..?" Shaking her head, the brunette turned, walking back into the house to pick up her coat and purse, quickly filling a glass for the lone rose.

"Shame on you David, blaming your daughter. If you'd have admitted it I would have told you that I think it is beautiful, and very unexpected." she winked at him, pulling her coat on. While she was turned away from him she bit her lip, holding in the excited squeal that was building up inside her. When she had her coat on, she turned to her date and nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, following him out of the door. They walked side by side, chatting about David's job, ad Emma's time in pre-school and his trip to Victoria that he had taken a few years before.

"So where are you taking me Mr Nolan?" David smiled down at the brunette beside him, linking their fingers as he took her hand.

"There's a nice little restaurant about 15 minutes away which is an authentic British pub. I always wanted to try it, and I remember you telling Emma at the diner a few weeks ago about that summer you spent in England so…" Mary Margaret smiled, squeezing his hand. She leant her head against his shoulder as they walked.

"I can't believe you remembered that David… I told her that as a passing comment…" The couple walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before David broke the silence. "So if you look over there..." He pointed across the road to where some trees were blocking the view of the ocean. "That is Palisades Park. Good for picnics. And a little further up the road is Santa Monica Pier. It's beautiful around sunset. We should take Emma sometime…" Mary Margaret blushed, staring down at her feet as they walked. She couldn't help but feel excited that she was already being included in the future plans of the father-daughter-duo. Absentmindedly she noticed that she and David were walking exactly in sync and squeezed his hand, more comfortable that she had been in a long time.

Having heard no response to his last comment, and concerned that he had said something that freaked his date out, he backtracked, trying to keep the mood light. "You know we've known each other for weeks now and I still don't know much about you…" He paused, waiting for her to answer with some fun fact about herself.

"Well, that's what a first date is for, is it not? Asking each other embarrassing questions and trying to impress each other?" She laughed as he bumped his hip against hers.

"Well Ms Blanchard, the date has begun, so it is time for you to answer some questions! Let's see…" He paused, pretending to ponder what to ask her, though Mary Margaret could tell from looking at him just what he wanted to ask. "So what caused the sudden move to Santa Monica? Running away or moving on?" The brunette paused, frowning down at the ground.

"I uh… got a new job. My career is my passion, and I couldn't turn my dream job down, so it meant moving to the other side of the country…" David could tell there was something she wasn't saying, but figured it wasn't a good idea to push the topic on their first official date.

"And what exactly is it that you do?" Mary Margaret looked up at him, grinning.

"You will find out soon enough." Their conversation paused as they turned the corner of Ocean Avenue onto Santa Monica Boulevard. Mary Margaret was seeing the street for the first time, but looking around it was clear to see where they were going. There was a gift shop, a restaurant and a pub in a row, all bearing the Union Flag and it made Mary Margaret stop walking, David only realising when she squeezed his hand, pulling him to a stop. After a moment marvelling at the view, the brunette fell back into step with her date, keeping hold of his hand as they walked into the restaurant.


	8. Chapter 7

**/I've added some Daddy Charming in this one, and the one I am currently writing (next week's chapter) is full of Daddy Charming so sweet it will give you toothache (well I hope you DC fans enjoy it). For now… The continuation of the first date./**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

They were led to a booth in the corner, and David waited until Mary Margaret was sat down before he took his seat. He watched her as she perused the menu, smiling at the way her face lit up at something she saw on it.

"I'm assuming you see something you like?" She grinned, glancing past the menu to the blonde across from her, giggling at his wink.

"Ok, so when I was in England and I was homesick, they didn't do American food right, so I ate British comfort food, I would always have bangers and mash, and here it is served with peas and gravy and that sounds perfect." She started to look over the dessert menu, not noticing David watching her.

"So tell me…" He hesitated at the look of reluctance on her face. Considering her reticence in sharing much details from her move earlier, he opted for an easier question. "What's your favourite movie?" He caught the sigh of relief that he tried to hide, and frowned, worried about whatever was causing her to worry about what he was going to ask.

"I guess When Harry Met Sally is my ultimate favourite movie. I guess Meg Ryan movies are my go to when I'm ill or sad or whatever. I watch when Harry Met Sally at least once a year." She smiled up at the waiter who attended to take their drink order, and asked for a diet soda, thanking him as he took the same order for David before walking away.

"So, what are you gonna get? I swear if you order liver I will walk out of here." He floundered until he realised she was joking and then gave her a grin.

"I was thinking good old fish and chips. Add some tartar sauce and you can't go wrong." Mary Margaret giggled as he wrinkled his nose at something on the menu and she closed her menu, placing it down as the waiter arrived with their drinks. They placed their order quickly, David asking for some bread for the table, before he made a toast, and they clinked glasses. The conversation flowed easily as they waited for their meals, pausing only when their food arrived, and slowing as they ate.

"Favourite colour?" Mary Margaret raised her brow at his question before smirking, he having mimicked her previous question to him.

"I would normally say green, but right now I'm partial to blue…" Their conversation was easy. She'd never been much of a flirt but found it was simple with David. Knowing he would likely ask her the same question as she asked him. "What do you look for in a woman?"

David chuckled lightly, but his answer was serious. "She has to be trustworthy. Honest. Good with Emma." He smiled wistfully, and carried on talking, but it was quieter, as if he was talking to himself. "The fact that she is beautiful and genuine is a bonus." The deep blush that graced her face showed David that Mary Margaret had heard his words and he frowned, not sure of her reaction. When she looked down to cut one of her sausages, he asked the next question. "Describe your perfect date."

He knew without a shadow of a doubt he would be asking Mary Margaret out again, and so figured it would be good to get some ideas. "That's a tough one. I'd have to say April 25th. Because it's not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket." It took a few moments before David followed along with what she was saying, but when he understood he laughed loudly, drawing attention to their booth. Mary Margaret could not help but laugh along with him, any tension that seemed to have appeared, had disappeared.

"Believe it or not, I know that movie. Ruby was watching it with Emma when I got home from work one day, and they both forced me to watch it with them. Didn't take you for a Sandra Bullock fan though." Mary Margaret had had enough of her meal and so lay her cutlery down, pushing her plate away slightly. She watched him as he concentrated on his food for a minute, and carried on watching, not realising he had seen her staring at him. When he cleared his throat she was pulled out of her daydream, and blushed, looking down at her lap in embarrassment. She was surprised when he reached over the table and placed his had atop hers and she smiled warmly at him, twisting her hand so he was holding it.

They sat, just watching each other as the waiter removed their plates and returned soon after placing the dessert menu on the table in front of them. Mary Margaret finally broke her gaze from David's, and pulled her hand away as she regarded the menu, trying to choose between apple and blackberry crumble and the chocolate cake. David picked the first thing on the menu, rice pudding, and went back to appraising his date.

"So you asked me earlier if I had any siblings and I didn't answer. I do. Or I did. His name was James. He was my twin…" David paused and Mary Margaret could tell it was difficult for him to be talking about. "He was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force… We were 25 when he died, just a few months before Emma was born. He never got to meet her…"

Mary Margaret took David's hand again and squeezed it as the waiter returned, and she quickly gave their order, not speaking again until he walked away. "David, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for bringing it up." David shook his head and linked his fingers with the brunette, leaning closer to her over the table. Mary Margaret leant forward as well, resting her chin on her hand. "I know this is a little… or a lot… heavy for a first date, but I kinda know what that's like…" David frowned and Mary Margaret could see the same look on his face that Emma had when she was upset. "I came to California because I needed to get away… not from someone but…" She looked down at her lap, twisting the one ring she wore around her finger, the topic difficult for her to discuss. "My sister. Her husband and son. They were in a car accident. Regina and Robin… they died instantly. Roland he…" She paused as her breath caught, and she took a deep breath in, closing her eyes to prevent tears from falling. "He held on for a few days, but in the end he just couldn't be away from his mama and papa." Mary Margaret was surprised when she felt David sliding in the seat next to her, more so when he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She let a breath go and relaxed into him for a few moments, before sitting up straight, but taking his hand.

As if on cue the waiter turned up with their desserts. His brow raised at the change in seating, but he made no comment as he placed the sweet treats in front of them, walking away with a nod. His presence had sobered her and she shook her head to clear it, thinking briefly of the fact she was on a date with a wonderful man to cheer her up.

She glanced up at him and noticed he was watching her, and smiled genuinely at the look on his face, like they were the only two people in the world. Mary Margaret leaned forward, biting her lip as she looked up at him.

"… your rice pudding is gonna get cold…" With a giggle she slid sideways a little, and pulled her dessert towards her, pouring the custard over the crumble. David shook his head in mirth and moved back to his side, digging into his pudding. They ate in silence for a few moments, before the conversation continued.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" Mary Margaret scooped some berries and custard onto her spoon, looking up at her date.

"Emma starts school on Monday… well kindergarten… and I'm going to take her shopping for supplies. I might take her to a movie or bowling or mini golf…" He looked contemplative, into his dessert, smiling wistfully. "I can't believe she's starting school already, my baby girl…" Mary Margaret reached for his hand and smiled up at him.

"I'm done. Let's get out of here and get you back home to your princess. It's been an interesting first date huh?" David chuckled at that, and signalled to the waiter that they wanted the bill. When it was delivered to their table, Mary Margaret tried to reach for it, but David had taken it from the table before she could. Mary Margaret stood and collected her jacket, tucking her chair in, as she waited for David to hand the bill back. Soon they were walking out of the restaurant, hand in hand.

"Did this seem to come out of nowhere to you?" Mary Margaret's question was quiet as if she was worried about offending her date. David looked questioningly down at her.

"What do you mean? The date? I know we've not known each other long but…" He paused, both in talking and walking. "You're not regretting this are you? Because, if this doesn't work out then… well, being your next door neighbour would be a bit difficult wouldn't it. He meant it as a joke but Mary Margaret didn't miss the quiver in his voice which she was used to hearing from Emma when she was unsure about something.

"No, David, I do not regret going on a date with you. But you have to admit, we went from perfect strangers to seemingly super close in the space of a few weeks. People don't know me here like they know Mr Hero Fireman…" She grinned at David's blush and pulled her hand from his, linking their arms. "I just… don't want you to think that I am only interested in seeing you because of your daughter. I've not felt so close to a family since my sister…" She shook her head for clarity and leaned closer to the blonde at the chill in the air.

It seemed no time at all before they arrived back at Mary Margaret's house and the pair stopped on the porch in front of the door, like two teenagers not wanting their parents to catch them. Mary Margaret looked down at the floor before glancing next door to David's house, as if she expected Emma to be watching them from the window. She was surprised to see Emma's light on, before realising, although it was a after nine thirty, it was the last time Emma would see Ruby for a long time, and so was probably being allowed to stay up for as long as possible. When she looked back at David she noticed he had followed her gaze, and then looked back when she did. The brunette bit her lip and noticed David's gaze drop momentarily.

"Well I should…" David stepped forward a little so he was almost toe to toe with her, taking her hand in his. Their kiss was simple and sweet and it caused a blush to rise on Mary Margaret's face. "Ok Mr Nolan. Thank you for a lovely evening. Now I have no doubt your little princess is waiting for her daddy to read her a bedtime story…" David grinned and nodded, taking a step backwards. He stayed on the porch as she unlocked the door, lifting his hand to mirror her wave before she closed the door behind herself. He nodded again to himself, ad turned on his heel, making his way off Mary Margaret's property and across to his own.

He didn't know what he was expecting of Emma when he entered his home. Whether she would be running around screeching, or whether the house would be silent as she slept. The downstairs was quiet so he made his way upstairs, seeing the light was on from under Emma's bedroom door. He opened it quietly and noticed Emma was curled into Ruby who was texting on her phone. Emma was dozing on top of the bed, and he could tell that she had fought bedtime. Ruby stood up carefully and made her way out of the room, gesturing for David to follow her. They walked downstairs together as Ruby grabbed her purse.

"Soooo… how did it go? Will you be seeing her again?" David nodded and Ruby grinned.

"Of course I will. She lives next door. I'll likely see her most days." Ruby rolled her eyes and glared at the blonde. "It went well. She seemed to enjoy it. But more importantly, how was Emma? Looks like she wasn't on her best behaviour…"

Ruby nodded, instantly serious. "She's been complaining of bellyache, and she did have a tiny fever so she was a little upset. If it had gotten any worse I would have called you, but she told me not to 'stop your fun' so." David nodded once more, and hugged the babysitter as she made her way to leave.

"Hey keep us updated on your travels ok? I know Emma will want to know. And I'll want to know you're keeping safe, ok?"

"Of course David, I will, thank you. If Emma ever wants to talk, don't hesitate to call."

When she had left and David had locked up downstairs and turned off all the lights, he made his way quickly back to his little girl. She was awake and watching him as he walked into the room, and he switched the light off after turning the lamp on, hoping it would help her fall asleep. As soon as he sat down with her she climbed onto his lap, curling into him. David hated when his princess was sick, but couldn't help but love the extra cuddles he got when she was. He pressed a kiss to the top of her blonde curls, pushing them back behind her ear from where they'd fallen into her face.

"How are you feeling princess? Rubes said you had a sore tummy." She nodded, whining as David shifted on the bed. He rubbed circles on her back, frowning as she began to suck her thumb. It had been a habit she'd had as a toddler, and he knew she only did it when she was ill, but he was concerned. "Do you feel sick monkey?" This time the little girl shook her head, using her other hand to grip the front of her father's shirt as if she was afraid to let him go. After a few moments of them just sitting there, the young girl removed her thumb from her mouth.

"Did you have fun daddy?"

"I did baby. But if you're unwell, I would rather have been here with you. Don't worry about me in future. If you need me and I'm not here, you get whoever is looking after you to call me. You're my main priority Emma."

Eventually Emma's breathing evened out and she got heavier in David's arms but her grip never loosened. He shifted down so they were both lying on the bed, and struggled to reach over to turn off the lamp, holding his daughter close to him. It was times like this he loved, and knew that no matter what happened with Mary Margaret, he would always have his daughter.


	9. Chapter 8

**/Gotta be honest, I feel the response from the last chapter was a little lacklustre. I get people are busy and have lives, but I write (hopefully) for the enjoyment of others, and if I feel people aren't enjoying, it makes me second guess my writing. I guess I just gotta say that :( don't hate on me.**

 **However, today is my first day off since the middle of August, and my last weekend off for the rest of the year. I plan to spend it writing but know I will have to spend some time with my family, do some chores, do some studying etc. that I don't normally have time to do. At the time of posting I have 53(?) days until my 10,500 words of essays have to be in and so, while I was trying to study, the last 1000 words or so are rushed and not very good (as can be said for the first 500 words of the next chapter which I wrote last night).**

 **For now, enjoy Daddy Charming, a little longer than usual to hopefully make up for lack of so far./**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

He'd stayed with Emma for about an hour after she fell asleep, before pulling out of her loosened grip, laying her favourite teddy in her arms. He went to his room, glancing out of the window at Mary Margaret's house before he closed the curtains. He had enjoyed his time with her, but had he known his little girl was ill he would have cut the date short. He knew already that Mary Margaret would have told him to go if she had known, and he smiled as he sat up against the headboard, pulling the new John Grisham novel off his nightstand.

He wasn't really tired, and he wanted to stay up a while in case Emma needed him, so he turned on his bedside lamp and started reading. He got two chapters in before he started to get tired and so he closed the book and stood, going to check on Emma who appeared to be sleeping soundly before making his way downstairs to get a drink. He got a glass of water and stood by the sink to drink it, glancing at the small bunch of white lilacs on the counter. He'd seen them as he was looking for flowers for Mary Margaret and they made him think of his little princess instantly and he had purchased them along with the princess magazine she purchased weekly with her pocket money.

He rinsed the glass when he finished, leaving it on the draining board and filled another to take up to Emma. When he reached her room he heard her whimper, and he moved to her bed quickly, crouching down, putting the little princess mug on her bedside table and switched on the lamp. Placing his hand on her forehead he could feel that her temperature had gone down but it was still slightly raised, and he figured if it wasn't gone by morning he'd forget the shopping trip he had planned. He was about to stand from his crouch and go back to his own room when the blonde's eyes fluttered open.

"Daddy… my belly still hurts." David frowned at the quiet tone of the usually loud little girl.

"Do you feel like you're gonna be sick sweetheart?" She shook her head, shifting closer to David, leaning off the bed. He stood, ignoring her pout and went to the bathroom to get the waste basket. "I'm gonna leave this here just in case Em. I left some water by the lamp, and I'll leave my door part open in case you need to call for me ok?" He tucked her back in properly and pressed a kiss to her forehead, doing the same to her favourite teddy when she gestured to it. "Goodnight Emma. Call me if you need me."

He'd only just made it into bed and closed his eyes when he heard Emma's padded footsteps walking across the hallway to his room, and the squeak of the doorway as she tried to slip through the gap silently. He pretended to be asleep as she climbed up on his bed, struggling as she was holding her favourite teddy and her blanket. He listened as she tried to get comfy on the other side, and waited until she had settled before smiling.

"Goodnight sweetheart."

"Goodnight daddy."

* * *

The next morning, David woke to see Emma still asleep next to him. She was twisted up in her blanket and was holding her teddy by the ear. A glance at the alarm clock showed they had overslept and it was almost 9. Careful not to wake her up in case she was still ill, he put his hand on her forehead to gauge her temperature and noticed it seemed to be almost back to normal. David laughed quietly as the little girl scrunched her face up, unhappy to be woken from her princess filled dreams.

She glared, blearily eyed at David for a few moments before her features turned into a smile and she shifted so she was sitting up. Without a word she stretched and clambered onto his lap, sighing happily as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "How are you feeling little one, does your belly still hurt?"

She shook her head against his chest, poking herself in the stomach as if to prove her point. "You don't have to work today daddy?"

"No I don't, in fact I was thinking me and you could spend the wholllllle day together." He dragged the word out for effect and smiled as she nodded into his chest, clearly still not fully awake. It quickly turned to a frown when he realised how excited they both were at the prospect of one day together, how it clearly didn't happen enough. "So you know you start school tomorrow Em?" Again, another nod and he continued. "We're going to go shopping today and get you a brand new first-day outfit and some other things you need, and we'll get some lunch and have some fun ok?"

"Ok daddy." After a beat she pulled away from David, clambering off his lap and then the bed, before leaving to go to her room. David dressed quickly while she was gone, then waited five minutes, making the bed and fluffing the pillows before going to see if Emma needed any help. She had pulled out some blue jeggings and a white shirt with a rainbow applique, and David grinned at her sense of style that she seemed to learn from watching Ruby. He watched Emma until she waved him away, and went downstairs to make some breakfast before they went out. A few minutes later David heard footsteps on the stairs, and Emma ran into the kitchen wearing mismatched shoes and her 'I am Groot' hoodie causing David to send her back upstairs to find shoes that matched.

He poured her a bowl of cereal, determining that making pancakes would take too long when he wanted to go shopping sooner rather than later. They ate quickly and soon they were out of the door and heading to the shopping centre. It was a quick journey, with Emma making small talk the whole way as David drove.

David had been shopping for Emma for the past few years, and so figured he knew what she liked and what would be a bad idea to get. He knew his 'little princess' would normally only wear a dress if it was a costume of one of her favourite characters and that she would only wear pink on a special occasion. So he was shocked that when they walked into the first store the came to, she ran straight to the section with the frilliest, pinkest, most feminine dresses in the store. She looked through the rack as David watched her before pulling out a pastel pink dress with polka dots and a white bow. She turned to David with wide eyes, holding the dress in front of her chest like she remembered David did to measure her clothes.

"Can I have it daddy, please?" Emma rarely asked David to buy her things, and the fact that it was a nice dress she had chosen for herself meant he was happy to agree. He nodded and took the dress from her as she handed it to him, taking her hand.

"Let's find you a nice pair of shoes to go with it, then we'll get some school supplies." The little blonde nodded happily and skipped alongside David as they walked to the shoe section. Together they picked out some comfortable white sandals and a pair of black ballet flats and headed to the check out, David picking up some tights on the way. They went to a sports store to pick up a gym kit and some trainers, Emma picking up a pair with laces before swapping for a Velcro pair.

They decided to take a break and get a smoothie before they went to look for a backpack. David watched as Emma struggled with the peel on her banana and waited for her to ask for help before he took it and did it for her. He had purchased a box of cherry chocolate chip cookies and snacked on half the box while Emma ate her banana, blaming his snaccident on the emotions about Emma starting school, when he realised just how many he'd eaten. He was pulled out of his reverie by Emma waving her banana peel at him.

"Can I get a princess backpack? One that sparkles?" David couldn't help but smile at how excited she seemed at the prospect and so nodded, and after the pair had finished their smoothies they made their way to the shop with the school supplies. When they arrived he let her browse the aisles and just watched her, frowning at the fact she had seemed to grow two inches overnight. He watched her as she picked up books and flicked through them, pretending she understood the text before she made her way back over to David.

"Daddy, can you teach me how to read?" The blonde knelt down in front of his daughter who was looking at him with wide eyes, and took the book from her hands. It was a book of fairy tales and a quick glance showed David Emma already owned most of the stories inside it.

"Sweetheart, you start school tomorrow. Little princesses go to school to learn to read and count to more than ten, and to make friends." Emma seemed to accept his answer without a word and turned back to the books, taking David's hand as she dragged him towards the backpacks. There were a range of backpacks, and David picked up one he thought Emma would like, pale pink, with a darker pink tiara and the names of the Disney princess's on the front. He held it out in front of her, raising a brow as she looked at it and shook her head quickly. Instead she looked at the second shelf and found one that she liked. She reached for it and noticing she was struggling, David picked up the one she was gesturing towards. It was white, with multi coloured apples and David thought it much more grown up than he assumed she would pick.

"This one is lovely Emma. Should we pick up some stationary that you keep just for school? We'll get some colours but you have to leave them in your bag and not use them at home ok?"

An hour later they had finished shopping for school supplies, including books and some hair ties that Emma had spent ten minutes choosing. David was carrying all the bags in one hand, holding Emma's hand in the other, and Emma was lagging behind dragging her feet.

"Daddyyyyyy." The whine from the four year old caused David to stop walking, and look down at the little girl who was acting like a diva.

He was frowning at her, but it was fake. Truly, he just enjoyed being with her for all these moments, whether she was complaining, or crying, or just being a four year old.

"Emmaaaaaaa." This time it was Emma who frowned when David copied her and then pouted as he began to laugh. "Let's go put all these bags in the car and then we can get something to eat and do something fun. The little girl cheered up instantly and even held her hand out so she could take one of the bags from David. Before long they were back having safely stored the bags, but Emma was still lagging even at the prospect of food.

He swooped down and lifted her up swinging her into his arms finding it much faster to walk to the food court when he was carrying her. He knew that as a fireman he'd physically be able to lift her for a long time, but he knew that the times she would be willing to be carried and cuddle him were limited and so he was going to make the most out of them.

At the food court the pair looked around at a couple of the restaurants, David glancing at their menus to see what they offered, before Emma pointed excitedly to a sign that said 'Ruby's'. With a glance at the menu, David saw quinoa and kale salad and quickly realised the unlikelihood of finding something Emma would enjoy. Instead he walked next door and saw grilled cheese on the menu. "Johnny Rockets it is then." He shifted Emma off his hip onto the floor and kept hold of her hand as they waited to be seated. They were led to a booth, and after a quick browse of the menu, placed their order, David allowing Emma to order for herself.

"Daddy…" Emma was no longer smiling, and when David looked at her, he noted that she actually looked sad.

"What's up sweetheart?" The excitement he was feeling at the beginning of the day was waning, and the realisation that from tomorrow his little girl would be going to school was beginning to hit. It was clear when Emma spoke that she was probably realising that too.

"I don't want to go to school. What if people are mean to me? What if my teacher is mean to me? Why can't I just stay home and you can teach me to read and count and we can be friends? Why do I have to go?" David was surprised that it had taken up until the last day for Emma to realise the situation, but he knew he couldn't let his own emotions show when she was worried herself.

"Emma, I promise you, you will absolutely love school. But just in case, how about you wear your pretty new dress and go to school tomorrow, and if you really don't like it, you can stay home with me the day after." Emma nodded, pulling out the salt and sugar packets that were in a little tub on the table, fiddling with them until their food was brought to their table, and they both started eating without saying another word.

It was another hour later when the pair found themselves wandering around window shopping. Emma was still quiet but the food seemed to give her some energy back so she was walking along with David, keeping tight hold of his hand. When David spotted a sign pointing to a different area of the mall and followed it, happy to have finally found one more thing they could do together before they went home.

It was loud as they approached the alley, and Emma could see the flashing lights, making her grin. He lifted her up to sit on the counter as he paid for their tickets and got their shoes, and they made their way over to the lane that had been opened for them. He let Emma put the names onto the scoreboard as he put his shoes on, and then added the bumpers onto her name while she put her shoes on.

David found a ball quickly and took his go, getting a spare, and moved the bowling ramp in line so his little girl could take her go. "Pick a ball Em, and then push it off here…" He grinned as she picked a purple one that he knew was way too heavy for her, and picked up a baby blue ball that he knew would work for her and placed it into her arms. She pushed the ball down the ramp with fervour and seemed to hold her breath as it trundled down the alley. David's jaw dropped as it knocked all the pins, and the screen celebrated the strike. Emma whooped, and turned to her dad, laughing as he picked her up and span her around, hugging her tightly to him.

He knew they didn't often have days like this, and that he spent more time at work than he probably should, but he knew that as soon as she was at school full time, he would miss the little moments he'd had since raising her. The two continued to play their game, Emma not managing to get a strike again, though she did manage a couple of spares. David won by 56 points and though Emma pouted David could see the sparkle in her eyes, and knew she had enjoyed the day with him as much as he had.

He could tell as they made their way back that his little girl was tired, there had been a lot going on that day and she was not used to so much action. She fell asleep almost instantly as David strapped her in the car. The drive home was short, and David carried Emma to the house to let her finish her nap as he bought the bags inside on a second trip, hanging up the dress and unpacking the rest of their purchases. With Emma still sleeping downstairs, he unpacked the sign they had found that he would add the date on and make Emma pose with the next day to show her first day of kindergarten, and stared at it, unable to believe in that moment just how fast his little girl was growing up.

* * *

 **So... did I do Daddy Charming justice?**

 **A little more to come next week.**


	10. Chapter 9

**/So due to life circumstances, I never actually attended kindergarten, or reception as it is known here. I started year 1 (first grade) when I moved from the South to the North West of England and so just kinda skipped it. Anyway, had I been, it would have been 17/18 years ago, and so I only know what I have seen/read on TV and other fics (so forgive any mistakes please).**

 **Just want to say thank you to Austenphile, Danica-SQ and oncer4life11, your constant kind reviews are the reason I keep writing./**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

"Are you sure I have to go to school daddy? I could just stay with you today, and go tomorrow?" David laughed quietly as he brushed through the knots in Emma's hair. Truthfully he had spent most of the night awake and had considered that more than once, but he knew that if he didn't make her go in today, he might never.

"I promise you princess that as soon as you get there you will realise how much you love it and you won't be able to wait to go back every day." He finished brushing her hair and noticed she was tugging at the hem of her dress. "What do you want me to do with your hair?"

"Braids. No, pony. No, curly!" She huffed as if it was the most difficult choice in the world. "You choose daddy." He held back a laugh and separated a small section from the side of her parting, making a simple plait. He tied it with a ribbon and fluffed the rest of her hair before kissing the top of her head.

"Put your shoes on sweetheart, then come downstairs ok, I made breakfast." He left her on her own and made his way downstairs, picking up her backpack from the table in the hall. He'd packed it the night before but wanted to check he had everything, and wanted to add in one of the brownies Mary Margaret had bought around the previous evening. He'd packed her a lunch that was currently sat in the fridge and he had written her a note which he placed in the front pocket of her backpack.

When he heard her footsteps at the top of the stairs he moved to the kitchen, removing the plates from the oven where they were being kept warm, and placed them on the table next to their juice. Emma made her way to the table and began to pick at her eggs, not eating much by the time David had finished his. He kept an eye on the clock as he watched her eat, and after 5 minutes having one forkful of eggs, he sighed.

"Eat one piece of toast and then go brush your teeth. It's a nice enough day I thought we'd walk to school." He stood from the table and cleared his plate, packing her lunch in her bag, making sure he was ready to go when she was ready. It wasn't long before she'd walked away from the table and returned from upstairs with her coat, having brushed her teeth. He took her coat from her and handed her the sign which he had filled in with the date, and it was time for the obligatory 'first day of school' picture. He took one, sighing as he noticed how grumpy Emma looked, and knelt down so he was eye level with her.

"This is a big day for you princess, I get that. I know you are nervous, I am too. But this is a day that daddy is going to remember for the rest of his life and so I need you to give me a smile." It took a few seconds, but soon a genuine smile appeared on the little blonde's face and the older blonde snapped a picture before it dropped. Vowing to send it to Ruby, Granny and Mary Margaret later, he helped Emma on with her coat and they were out the door.

The pair walked down the street, David carrying the backpack on his shoulder while holding Emma's hand. The school was close so the walk was short, and they arrived a handful of minutes before the kids were supposed to be called to their classrooms. David, having not made it to the meeting of Emma's teacher the previous week, wanted to meet them before the school day started and so the pair made their way to where they'd been told Emma's kindergarten class would be.

David knelt down in front of his daughter, removing the bag from his shoulder and handing it to her. "Your lunch is in here, I'm sure your teacher will show you where to put it. There's also a special treat in there, but you have to wait until lunch time." Emma nodded, and smiled, though she seemed a little nervous. He held out his arms to hug her and she fell into them, holding tightly to his neck. "You'll have a great day princess, and I can't wait to hear all about it later on."

A shadow fell over the pair and they both looked up at the same time, surprised to see Mary Margaret stood before them, clasping a folder in her crossed arms.

"Good morning Emma!" The brunette was smiling brightly, and the sight of her alone made Emma relax in David's arms.

"Snow!"

David stood and turned, flustered as he did not expect to see her. "Mary Margaret… do you…? Are you… Emma's teacher?"

Mary Margaret smiled and nodded, unfolding her arms to make a check on her document. "I was going to tell you but…" She paused as Emma launched herself at her knees. This time it was Mary Margaret who knelt so she was eye to eye with Emma. She hugged her briefly, complimenting her outfit before standing to talk to the pair.

"I have to get into class, but if you wish we can speak about this later?" David nodded before lifting Emma up for another hug.

"Listen princess, I know you know and like Mary Margaret but when you are at school she is your teacher. You have to call her Ms Blanchard and do what she says when she says it, like your teachers in nursery, remember."

Emma answered in the affirmative, no longer looking nervous. She took a step closer to her neighbour, now teacher and waved at David. "Bye daddy, I love you." She reached up to take Mary Margaret's hand, which the brunette allowed just this once, and walked into the classroom, not looking back once. David's breath caught in his throat and he stood there for a few moments, just watching the space where his daughter had been. He'd told his boss he would be coming into work for a few hours until he had to pick Emma up, and he knew he would be finding any excuse to leave early and be the first one there at home time. He had a feeling he would be missing her a whole lot more than she would be missing him.

* * *

When 2:30 rolled around David was already in the shower, tired after a day of drill training, but excited to pick up his little girl. His chief, aware that David was a single father, and the station was in the process of integrating their new trainees, had allowed David some leeway in the hours he worked, as long as he completed all his drill training and was available for emergencies.

David dressed quickly, wanting to get to the school before the pick up at three o'clock, waving at his team on his way out. They had met Emma, and all loved her, considering their colleague and his daughter both friends and family. He was stopped on his way out the door by a quick yell of his name.

"David, wait up!" He turned, smiling broadly as Mulan ran up to him, stopping just before she would have hit him. "You're coming to the cook-out this weekend right? You'll bring Emma?" David nodded, remembering back to the same event the previous year. He had taken Emma and they had had a marvellous time, raising money for their station but more importantly, getting involved in their community.

"Of course, we'll be there. Are you bringing anyone?" He smirked at her blush. She had been dating someone since the beginning of the year and the rest of the team were yet to meet the mystery individual.

"Yes, Rory doesn't work weekends so we'll be coming together." She glared at the blonde but it lacked any anger. Instead, she decided to try and turn the tables. "You have to bring Emma, but is there anyone else we might be meeting… a petite brunette that Will saw you looking cosy with on Saturday…" David frowned, aware of who she was talking about, but unsure how she would know, before his eyes widened, remembering their British colleague, currently a volunteer at the station, who worked in the King's Head in his off hours.

With a quick glance at his watch, he laughed, stepping backwards. "I have to go, Emma is waiting, I'll see you tomorrow!" Without a glance back, he was out of the door, climbing in his car to make the journey to the elementary school.

When he arrived he joined the queue of parents waiting to be allowed in, talking to a couple who introduced themselves as Ella and Thomas. Thomas was looking for a job, and so David suggested he swing by the fire station and fill out an application as he knew there were always openings there. He was interrupted as a bell rang, and some of the older kids from the higher classes came pouring out, chatting excitedly, and running to their parents.

David waited a couple of minutes waiting for the crowds to clear, following the parents of the kindergarteners to where they had to be checked off a list before they could go to the kids. David watched as the TA checked parents one by one opening the door for them to go in. When he gave his name and Emma's, he was met with a smile from the assistant.

"Ah, Emma, she's quite the character!" David frowned, not sure whether that was meant as a compliment or an insult, but the woman had already moved on to the next parent behind him. He made his way back to where he had been only a handful of hours earlier and saw a number of parents with their kids either making their way out or hanging around outside the classroom. A few were still in the classroom and he waited, watching Emma colour at a desk near the front until the rest of the parents and students had left.

It was only then that Emma noticed her father stood there watching her, and she leapt out of her seat and ran to him, giggling as he lifted her up high for a hug.

"Hi daddy!"

"Hey princess. Did you have a good day?" The little girl nodded but didn't elaborate, only hugging David harder. He looked over to Mary Margaret who was watching them with a smile, and made his way over to her, still carrying Emma. "Were you good for Ms Blanchard?" Another nod, again, no elaboration. David raised his brow at Mary Margaret and she tilted her head to the side, gesturing she wanted to speak to him without Emma hearing. He pressed a kiss to the side of Emma's head and placed her down. "Why don't you go and pack up your bag sweetheart while I have a word with your teacher."

The little girl wandered off to her desk and David took a breath, smiling wanly at the brunette in front of him. "So… you're a teacher. My daughter's teacher to be exact. You didn't think to tell me?"

Mary Margaret worried at her lip, glancing at the small blonde who had sat back down to colour, ignoring the instructions to pack her things.

"Ok, I understand how this looks, but I didn't know, not really up until last week. I came here to teach first grade, but there was a mix-up and I got kindergarten. We had a 'meet the parents' event last week but you were working, and then I thought it would be a happy surprise when you found out. Ruby was telling me how worried you were about Emma starting school, and… well I know you don't really know me that well, but Emma likes me, and…" She stopped talking, not exactly sure what point she was supposed to be making. David shook his head briefly, glancing at Emma who had the tip of her tongue stuck out as she coloured a tricky bit.

"How was it? How was she?"

"The first day is always tricky. Some kids have never been away from their parents so it's hard for them. But the first day, even the first week… hell most of Kindergarten is getting to know each other, getting used to the system, and then they add a little learning in there." He nodded his understanding, still watching the brunette as she turned away from him to clean the board, realising a little too late that he was staring as she stretched to reach the top of the board. He turned around to look at the wall art, currently posters of counting to twenty, the alphabet and a large, animated map of the world, only turning back when she cleared her throat.

"And how was Emma?" Mary Margaret chuckled at the blonde before her, it being painfully obvious just how much he had missed the four year old, and was hesitant to tell David the truth.

"She… she was great. She raised her hand, answered questions, spelled her name for the class and made friends with a little girl who was upset. One of the more successful first days I've seen in a long time." She paused at the look on David's face. "I think she was just being so productive to avoid thinking about how much she missed her daddy…" He shook his head happy that she had at least tried to pretend Emma had missed him.

"I guess I should be happy that she took to it so well. If she enjoyed it, she'll be happier coming back tomorrow." He looked down when he felt Emma take his hand and he lifted her again, holding her close. "I guess we'll be seeing you tomorrow Ms Blanchard." With a single nod, he turned, taking Emma's backpack from her hand, leaving the classroom.

Mary Margaret watched them go, before sitting heavily in her chair, burying her face in her hands.

* * *

 **Soooo...?**


	11. Chapter 10

**/ The books mentioned/read in this chapter are real books by real authors and I am using them for my own creative purposes. Lift-the-flap fairy tales is by Roger Priddy and Snow is by Walter de la Mare and I found them on a list of books for 4-7 year olds. No copyright intended etc.**

 **Also, I have no idea how the British fire service works, let alone the American one, so, you know, it's probably wrong, but it's a story so.**

 **This one is slightly longer than most, as next week's chapter will be quite short I think. We'll see.**

 **Forgot to thank BooksinMyDreams and Mia Story in the previous chapter, so thank you, your reviews really make me smile. /**

 **BTW - One of my people is leaving work today and I am not happy about it so cheer me up with some reviews?**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

The rest of the week followed much the same as Monday. David would drop Emma off, spend a while at work, pick her up and take her home, spending the evening together. He would either cook or they would pick up subs on their way home, and would spend the meal with Emma telling David everything that happened that day.

On the Tuesday, there was no communication between David and Mary Margaret. On the Wednesday, they exchanged smiles but no words. On the Thursday, David thanked Mary Margaret for everything she was doing for Emma. It was already obvious how much the young girl had come out of her shell, and she talked constantly about 'Ms Snow'. On Friday drop-off, David asked Mary Margaret if she minded being called Ms Snow in school hours, to which she explained that a few others had started it and she didn't mind at all.

It was half an hour till David was meant to be heading out to pick up Emma when the station alarm rang. The week had been relatively quiet, and all shouts had been during school hours so it was an unwelcome surprise when the chief explained that the station from the next county needed their assistance tackling an industrial warehouse fire. The station sprang into action with the practiced dance of the professionals getting ready for a shout, and before he could spare another thought they were in the truck on their way. He managed to text Mary Margaret quickly and asked, if not begged her to take Emma home and look after her until he got back, with no further explanation. Without waiting for a response, merely hoping she said yes, he locked his phone away with the rest in the overhead locker and grabbed his helmet, prepared to move as soon as they arrived.

When the truck pulled up they were up and out, falling into the now-easy dance of their job. They were the second responders, and were there to help the local department with the fire, and so Killian, the captain of their team and the chief's second in command approached the other captain, returning to his team moments later with their role. It was a difficult fire, and David understood why the team had called in reinforcements. They worked in perfect synchronisation and after about an hour of the SMFD's presence, the fire had been extinguished and the few casualties that had been caught up with smoke inhalation had been taken to hospital.

Soon they were back in the truck, happy that they had got through a relatively serious job without incident, and that there had been no fatalities. They chatted amongst themselves, Killian driving with Mulan up front with him, the radio playing in the background. After a few minutes of discussing the job with his team and praising their teamwork, he checked the time, noticing it was after four, and he grabbed his phone from the overhead, checking to see if he had any response from Mary Margaret.

He noticed three texts and a missed call. The first was sent two minutes after his and just said 'of course' with a second a few minutes later asking what was going on. The missed call had come about 45 minutes later and the last text asked David to call when he was done, and to be safe. He smiled at the little 'x' that Mary Margaret had ended the final text with and tapped her name, calling her number. It was answered immediately, and he knew it was his little girl on the other end.

"Daddy! Did you fight the fires? Did you save people? Are you ok?" David laughed quietly. It was always the same questions.

"Yes baby, we fought the fires, everyone is safe. I'm on my way home. Are you being good for Ms Blanchard?" He heard a slight rustling noise, and he knew Emma was nodding her head. "That's great princess. I'll be home soon, be good."

"Ok daddy. Here's Snow." David laughed aloud this time, switching the phone to his other ear so he could hear over the chatter of his team.

"David, hi. Is everything ok?" He was confused at the obvious concern in her voice and he turned to the side so he could talk without others listening.

"Yeah, I'm fine… It was a tricky fire but there were no major injuries and only a small area of the warehouse was damaged to a significant level. I'll explain properly when I get home. I assume the missed call I got was from Emma?" He heard her laugh over the line and it bought an automatic smile to his face.

"Of course. I told her as soon as the rest of the class had gone that you had to go to work, and that I would take her home, and she waited as long as she could before she asked to ring you to check. I think the change in situation that she's at school now and doesn't see you for chunks of the day just confused her…" He heard Emma's voice in the background, calling for Snow, and chuckled as she paused, her response muffled as she spoke away from the phone. "I'll be right there sweetie!" Her next sentence was clearer as she spoke again to David. "I have to go honey, I'll speak to you later."

"Ok, I…" There was a muffled curse before the line went silent, and David had to pull it from his ear to check if the call was still connected. He frowned at the screen when he realised Mary Margaret had hung up on him. He exited the screen and then tried to call her number back, hanging up after it rang for thirty seconds. He put the phone in his pocket, only then noticing that his team were staring at him. "My daughter's… babysitter…" He stuttered, by way of explanation, staring down at his phone to avoid looking at them. He was quiet the rest of the ride, and when they got back to the station, he said goodbye to his team and rushed to his car.

* * *

Mary Margaret cursed as she realised what she had just called David, and hung up, leaving her phone in the kitchen as she moved to the main room where Emma was. "What's up sweetheart?" She cringed at the nickname to her neighbour, and student, frowning at how easy it was with both her and her father.

"Can you help me read this book Snow? I don't know the big words." Mary Margaret couldn't help but beam at the little girl. Her kindergarten class all seemed to enjoy school, at least they had done in the first week they'd been there, but Emma appeared to show more enthusiasm than most of them. She sat on the sofa and tapped the spot next to her, waiting for Emma to join her. When she did, the brunette wrapped her arm around the little girl's shoulder when she snuggled into her. Mary Margaret took the book from Emma, chuckling at her choice of Snow by Walter de la Mare. She flicked through the first few pages of poetry and frowned.

"This one might be a bit tricky for you little one, why don't I go and look upstairs and see what you might like?" Emma nodded, but her pout showed she was not happy. Mary Margaret pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she moved off the sofa, trying to remember exactly where she had stored the kids' books. She found the box hidden in the closet and shuffled through, finding a number of books that had belonged to Roland that she'd read to him while he was in the hospital. She quickly moved that box to the side and found the box of books she had from her reading corner from the school she used to teach at in Maine.

She quickly found a book she knew Emma would like. Though it may be a little childish, the lift-the-flap fairy tales book would be a good one to encourage the young girl to practise her reading. When she returned back downstairs she resumed the position they had been sat in, and held the book, opening it to the first page, allowing Emma to read in her own time.

"Li… ttle Red Rid… ding Hood…" The blonde looked up at her teacher, checking she was saying the words right. With a nod, she continued. "Find the… What's that word Snow?"

"Cottage. A cottage is a house with no stairs in it… carry on princess."

"Cot…" She mumbled the last part of the word before continuing. "In the woods" She reached over to lift the flaps, seeing images of a fox, the cottage and a woodcutter behind cartoon trees, pointing out the 'house' to Mary Margaret. When she had done with the page, Mary Margaret turned it, noticing the second page was about the story of Thumbelina. Again, Emma read, asking for help with the big words, and lifting the flaps for that one and Jack and the Beanstalk. The doorbell rang as Mary Margaret was about to turn the page, and Emma shot off the sofa, running to the door, all the while yelling "Daddy!"

Mary Margaret just sat and took a deep breath before she followed and opened the door, walking back into the main room while the father-daughter duo hugged each other. She looked up when David carried Emma in, and she stood, expecting them to say goodbye and leave. Instead, he placed Emma down on the floor and watched as she climbed back on to the sofa, tapping it like Mary Margaret had done. Mary Margaret looked between the father and daughter, sitting back next to Emma when David gestured she should. Emma picked up the book they were reading and waved David over, leaning into him as he sat on the other side of her.

The brunette watched as Emma read the whole book again to David, the sight of the pair snuggled together making warmth blossom in her chest. Once the littlest blonde had read the book and forced David to read it to her, she pushed it to the side, looking around for another book they could read together. David looked too when he realised what she was doing, and noticed a book on the table in front of him that made him grin.

"Why don't we read some poetry Emma, me and Mary Margaret can take it in turns..." Emma nodded excitedly and David reached forward to pick up the book flicking through it to find a poem he liked.

"This one is called… Snow..." He grinned at Mary Margaret as Emma snuggled closer into his lap, her excitement dwindling as tiredness overcame her.

"No breath of wind… No gleam of sun – still the white snow, whirls softly down…" Mary Margaret was listening to David but watching Emma, lifting her little feet onto her lap as she stretched out. "Twig and bough… and blade and thorn… all in an icy, quiet, forlorn. Whispering, rustling, through the air… on sill and stone, roof, - everywhere…" Emma had leaned against David's chest and was trying to keep her eyes open while she listened. The adults could see that she understood very few of the words, but was, like Mary Margaret, just enjoying the sound of David's voice. "It heaps its powdery crystal flakes, of every tree… a mountain makes; 'til pale and faint, at shut of day… stoops from the West, one wint'ry ray." With one verse to go, David looked over at Mary Margaret who had her hands resting on Emma's feet and she was watching her. A smile covered her face, it was not one that David had seen before, and looked like one of love. She felt David's gaze on her and so she looked up at him, and David's chest tightened as she looked at him the same way she had looked at his daughter. Blushing, she nodded for him to finish the poem and he smiled warmly at her before doing so. "And, feathered in fire, where ghosts the moon, a robin shrills… his lonely tune."

Careful not to move much, he handed the book over to Mary Margaret, wrapping his arms around his daughter as she dozed against his chest. Mary Margaret picked a poem at random and began to read, glancing up at the pair every so often as she read, noticing towards the end that Emma had properly fallen asleep. At the end of the poem she put the book down, lifting Emma's feet off her lap as she stood.

"Let me guess, you haven't eaten since lunch time?" David shook his head with a little grin. "I can cook something… Emma will need to eat after her nap anyway… that is, I mean, unless you just want to take her home now..?" David shook his head as he, somehow difficultly, shifted Emma off his lap so she was napping on the sofa, and stood. "That sounds lovely. Why don't I help and we can talk in the kitchen." The pair covered Emma in a blanket and made their way through to the kitchen, shutting the door behind them.

Mary Margaret began to pull ingredients from the fridge, passing them to David to put on the side. She grabbed a knife from the rack and a peeler from the drawer, offering them both to David for him to pick one. He chose the knife and began to cut the broccoli into smaller florets. Mary Margaret began to peel the carrots and they worked in companionable silence for about ten seconds, before they both spoke at once.

"So how was…"

"You were going…"

"You go."

"You go."

The pair both laughed quietly, and David nodded, letting Mary Margaret speak. "You were going to tell me about that job you went on?" Mary Margaret asked as she continued to peel and chop the carrots.

David nodded, telling her the story of how his afternoon had gone, pausing only to clean his knife to begin cutting the chicken. David asked her how Emma had been at school, and whether she set homework, and they just talked comfortably together as they cooked. Once the pasta bake was in the oven, Mary Margaret began to set the table while David went to wake his daughter, who was clearly overly grumpy from being woken too soon.

The three ate together, with Emma, fully awake and happy to be with her daddy and 'her Snow' chatting enough to fill the silence. It was only when Mary Margaret asked her what she and her daddy had planned for the weekend, did David remember the cook-out that was happening at the station.

"Actually, I meant to talk to you about this weekend." He glanced at Emma who looked bored, and then to Mary Margaret who looked confused. "Every year my department has a cook-out, just a community barbeque thing, for the staff, they bring their families… well anyone is allowed along really. There are stalls and food and, well Emma loves to go, the guys at the station all love to see her…" Emma was bouncing in her seat excitedly, as if she knew what was going on, though it was likely she was just excited about the barbeque. He looked down at his plate, spearing a piece of chicken and pasta before he tilted his head at his neighbour.

"Anyway, I was hoping you would like to come with me and Emma tomorrow, get some food, play some games..?" Mary Margaret looked from David to Emma, who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Please Snow, we go and daddy buys me a bear donut and he eats so much pink candyfoss and if you come we can play the games and get hotdogs and…" Mary Margaret grinned as she stood from her chair, done with her food.

"I would love to join you guys. I'm partial to tacos, I don't suppose they serve those at the cook-out?" She knew it was a long shot, but they had had something similar at her town in Maine, and her sister always made sure they had tacos available. Emma went back to her food, already distracted knowing that Mary Margaret was going to join them. David smirked up at her, and handed over his plate when she asked for it.

Subconsciously, Mary Margaret bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head as she walked past her, before strolling into the kitchen. It wasn't until she was rinsing the plate at the sink that she realised what she had done, and just how natural it had felt. She poured a glass of apple juice for Emma and grabbed two glasses and a bottle of wine out of the fridge before she made her way back to the blonde pair in the other room. David nodded when she offered him wine, and they sat with their drinks, both watching Emma pick at her carrots. She huffed and put her fork down, clearly not wishing to continue.

"Emma, finish your vegetables please"

"I'm not hungry daddy."

"But Mary Margaret put a lot of effort into this meal for us, you can at least try."

"I don't like carrots."

Mary Margaret glanced and David and winked, giving him a look that said 'go with it'.

"That's fine if you don't like carrots sweetheart. I myself love carrots, especially as they helped me learn to read and help me see at night time… but if you don't want to eat them that's ok."

Emma looked quickly between her father and her teacher and pierced three pieces of carrot at once, eating the whole lot in a matter of minutes. Mary Margaret smirked at the taller blonde, raising her brow as he mouthed a thank you. When she had finished, Mary Margaret cleared the table, pottering around the kitchen for a few minutes.

When she returned back into the main room, the pair were sat on the sofa, conversing quietly. Mary Margaret figured they wanted to go back home, and so handed David the Tupperware with the leftover pasta with a smile.

"What time does this thing start tomorrow?" David stood, gesturing for Emma to do the same.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually. I have to go early to set up, so I was hoping you wouldn't mind having Emma for a bit then coming around 11?" It only took a second for Mary Margaret to agree, seeing Emma nodding ferociously and with a quick hug to both the father and daughter, they were ready to go. As Emma went to collect her jacket and backpack from the hallway, Mary Margaret began to follow her, only stopping when David took hold of her arm as Emma left the room. She turned to face him with a frown.

"Thank you Mary Margaret, for looking after Emma this evening. For helping her with her reading. For dinner…"

"It was my pleasure David, I love having Emma around, and I am glad I made sure you got at least one hot meal this week." He grinned as she chuckled, and he looked towards the door before he bent forward and kissed the brunette. She melted momentarily, wrapping her arms around his neck and returning his kiss, before she remembered where she was and stood up straight, blushing as she looked at the ground.

She glanced back up at the blonde as his thumb and forefinger lifted her chin, and he pressed one last chaste kiss to her lips before stepping back.

"See you tomorrow… honey."

* * *

 **More school is coming. Some Daddy Charming. Some Emma/MM stuff and some Snowing fluff. Got a general idea where this is going, but not there yet, so any requests, let me know in the reviews. :)**


	12. Chapter 11

**/ I started writing this chapter at the weekend in work and angst just happened. Sorry. I got it finished on the Tuesday though (as I am writing this note) so I hope I will get a decent chunk of the next chapter written before I update./**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Although she knew that she was going to a cook-out, where the main aim was to eat food, Mary Margaret figured there would not be much health food on offer, and so packed some juice cartons, crudités and fruit in her satchel, waiting for David to drop Emma off on his way to work. She was mixing her porridge oats on the hob when her doorbell rang and the brunette moved the pan off the heat, going to answer the door.

As soon as it was open, the small blonde that was Emma launched herself at her legs.

"Snow! Do you like my dress? It's from Tangled!" She held up a stuffed frog and waved it in front of Mary Margaret's face. "This is Pascal. He lives in the tower." Mary Margaret couldn't help but laugh at the matter-of-factness of the young girl's tone. She knelt down, appraising the dress, noting that David had braided her hair much the same as it was in the movie, down to little flower clips dotted around, before giving her a quick hug.

"You look absolutely beautiful sweetheart, you will be the prettiest little princess there." Satisfied, the four year old waved over her shoulder at David and walked into the main room, leaving the adults alone. She looked up at David who was grinning at their behaviour and stood up to face him properly, accepting Emma's car seat from him and placing it just inside the door before looking back at him.

"You have time for coffee?"

"Nope, gotta get down there. There's a lot to do. You going to be ok with her for a couple of hours?"

"Of course David." She frowned at him when he raised his brow. "We will be fine. You get to work, we'll see you later." He nodded this time, pressing a kiss to Mary Margaret's cheek before he called into the house.

"See you later kiddo!"

"Bye daddy!" David grinned broadly at his neighbour and she waved as he made his way to his car to get going. Mary Margaret closed the door as he drove away, and turned to head back to the kitchen.

"You want some oatmeal sweetheart?"

* * *

Mary Margaret only realised when they were getting ready to leave that she did not know where the fire station was and so they were delayed when she had to look online for an address for her sat-nav. The pair arrived at the cook-out a little after 11, and Mary Margaret took Emma's hand as they looked along the stalls for David. Emma spotted him first and released Mary Margaret's hand, running over to him with a yell.

David grabbed hold of her as she reached him and swung her around in a wide circle before hugging her briefly. Mary Margaret, who had speed-walked when Emma ran off, then reached the pair, laughing as Emma struggled to be released from David's arms. When she was down on the ground, she took both her father's hand and Mary Margaret's, and pulled them both in the direction of two bouncy castles that were set up near the stations entrance.

"What if there are any fires today?" Mary Margaret asked, glancing around at all the off duty workers, and stalls that would prevent a fire truck being able to successfully depart.

"We have a volunteer crew, they're ready to up and go if necessary, but also the next county's station are aware they may be called out too, they cover us for the cook-out and we cover them when they have their annual event so…" Both adults watched as the little girl pulled her shoes off and jumped onto the castle that was shaped like a fire truck. David laughed, expecting her to run straight to the princess castle bouncy house, and stood back, watching Emma bounce with a few other children already in there.

"So…" She paused as she glanced at Emma, before taking David's hand in hers. "Emma was telling me they do face painting here. I assume you'll be getting involved with that?" David raised his brow, causing the brunette to smirk. "I will if you do." The fireman shook his head and turned back to face Emma, still keeping hold of Mary Margaret's hand. The pair watched as Emma jumped off one castle, moving on to the other, before five minutes later squealing as she was chased out of the princess castle and back onto the fire truck castle by a little boy that Mary Margaret recognised from her class. A glance at David and she noticed him glaring at the boy who was now bouncing with his little girl and she squeezed his hand with a shake of her head, causing her to turn his glare to her.

She didn't let it phase her, instead elbowed him in the ribs with a grin. "That is Gus, Marco the school handyman's little boy. He and Emma are quite good friends." Even after only a handful of weeks of knowing her neighbour, she knew what he was going to try and do next, and so pulled him to a stop when he took a step away from her. "Emma is four years old. I know she is your little princess, but there is no reasons to go overprotective father right now." It was meant as a joke to calm the father, but it was not taken that way as David pulled his hand from her grip and turned the full force of his scowl on her.

"You have no right to tell me how I should be feeling about my daughter, you are her teacher and nothing more, she is your responsibility in school hours, and outside of that, it is nothing to do with!" He looked back at Emma, not sure whether to just walk away without her or pull her away from her friends. "Emma, out of there, now!"

The little girl clearly didn't hear her father yell often and so stopped what she was doing and scuttled after him as he moved away from the castle, glancing briefly at Mary Margaret as she just stood there, not knowing what to do.

After a minute of watching the spot where the pair had walked away from her, she shook her head to clear it, deciding to look around the rest of the area. She looked around and found the face paint stall, and found the different food stalls, surprised to find one was selling tacos, nachos and burritos. Whatever had caused David to yell like he did was causing a nauseous feeling to grow in her stomach, and if she hadn't promised Emma they would spend the day together, she would be heading home.

The school teacher was surprised again when she came across a stall selling items to raise money for the station, and spent a little time browsing through the book section that had been donated by the local bookstore. She found a couple of novels for herself and a few books that she thought Emma would love. Though she was genuinely concerned that her short lived relationship with David and Emma would be over, she couldn't help buy them for the little girl who was showing such an aptitude for reading, deciding that if she was being relegated only to the little girl's teacher, she would keep the books at school for her.

Too anxious to try and enjoy herself, she bought a cupcake from the stall Granny was running and found a bench, sitting with her novel, checking her phone constantly as if she was expecting David to text her. She only managed to read a chapter of her novel before she grew paranoid that people were staring at her, and she stood to look around a little more.

A stall selling handmade items drew her attention, and a blue dream catcher that hung from the rafters caught her eye. Without a second thought she bought it, remembering the little girl who was the shining light in her classroom telling her about her bad dreams, and she sighed as she packed it all in her satchel, having decided it was time to just make her way home.

When she arrived, she sent a text to David informing him that she had left Emma's car booster seat under a blanket on the chair on her porch and then closed and locked the door, closing all the curtains so she would not be disturbed. With that, she broke down and cried for the end of the relationship that hadn't really begun.

Meanwhile, back at the cookout, Emma had been timidly following her father around, keeping quiet until he calmed down. She hadn't seen him angry before, but she had seen him when he was upset, and she knew it was the best idea to not say anything that could make him worse. She took his hand and walked beside him as they walked around the stalls. When he looked down at her and smiled, she took a chance to talk.

"Daddy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing princess. It's just a busy day today."

"Where's Snow. She promised we would be together today." At four, she didn't understand most facial emotions and so thankfully she didn't understand the grimace that crossed his face at the mention of his neighbour. Truthfully, he wasn't mad at the woman he had grown to care for, he was mad at himself for overreacting to her. He knew she had just been trying to lighten the mood and he had gone off on one for what seemed like no reason, but he had spent the past few years facing numerous questions about his parenting skills from nosey members of the public and when it seemed like she had been questioning him, it caused him to yell.

"I don't know pumpkin, why don't we look for her on our way to the donuts?" Emma nodded eagerly, partly at the prospect of her fried sugary treat, but also at seeing Mary Margaret and there was a little more pep in her step as she skipped alongside her father.

David began to grow a little concerned as he looked around for Mary Margaret, not seeing her. He stopped for donuts, and thought he spotted her as Emma was choosing which one she wanted, but by the time they got to the stall selling knick-knack's and handmade crafts, she had disappeared. Emma wanted to get her face painted, and so he lifted her up so they could walk there faster. She was in the process of getting a tiara painted on her forehead when David received a text from Snow, the content of which informed him she was now back at home. After she was done, the off-duty fireman told Emma where Mary Margaret had gone and the pair decided to go back home to talk to her, to check if she wanted to go back to the cook-out for the live music and fireworks set for that evening, stopping to purchase a taco before they left.

When they got to the house, David found the car seat where she said it would be and knocked on the door, wanting to apologise to his neighbour and friend. After a few minutes stood knocking, he called through the door, Emma insistent that they talked to her.

"Mary Margaret, I know you're in there. Please open the door, I just want to apologise for what I said…" "Mary Margaret, please, I'm sorry…"

David stepped closer to the door, not being able to see Mary Margaret had done the same thing on the other side, and Emma moved with him, her tiny fists making quieter knocks lower on the door.

"Snow, daddy is sorry, please open the door, we have tacos." She opened her fist and placed her open palm on the door like she had seen in Frozen. Again, the little girl couldn't see that on the other side of the door, her teacher was doing the same thing.

* * *

After Mary Margaret had failed to open the door, David took Emma home for a few hours before he took her back to the cook-out that evening, buying hot dogs as they set up a blanket on the grass, with enough room to see both the band and the fireworks. Emma had fallen asleep in the car home, and they had spent the Sunday together, reading, colouring, and practising her maths. He gave her a bath that evening and braided her hair so it would be curly the next day, and the pair went to bed early. Drop off at school on Monday was quick, David had an early shift, and so barely had enough time to kiss her goodbye before he had to rush off, with not even enough time to acknowledge his neighbour.

The school day started quietly, and Mary Margaret could tell that it was not going to be like the first week. The first hour was sums, and instead of Emma being involved like usual, she stayed quiet, watching Mary Margaret flit around the classroom, helping all the other kids with their 2x tables.

When Mary Margaret asked the class to pack away their books and get out their whiteboards so they could play a little game, Emma sat in her seat and pouted, not doing what she was asked. Mary Margaret noticed that Emma was not taking part, and decided that it would be easier if she were to talk to her over recess, instead of in front of everyone.

But it only got worse.

When Mary Margaret announced that they were going to practice writing their letters, the first two letters of their names, Emma ignored her, leaving her seat to go to her backpack, using the colours she had taken from them to draw doodles on her back. The teacher did not notice at first, as she was writing some of the 'tricky' letters on the board, handing out a printed alphabet to the class, but when she reached Emma, she frowned.

"Emma, it's not time to colour yet. Right now we're going to do some letters. You have to practice E and M, I know you know them."

"No."

"Emma, in school I am the teacher and you are my student, I am asking you to please put your colours away."

"No!"

"Emma, I don't want to ask you again. If you don't follow the rules of the class I will have to take you to the principal, and they will have to call your daddy and he will have to leave work to pick you up."

"You are not my mommy!"

"Emma Jamie Nolan, I am going to have to ask you to step outside, I will be out there in a moment." She frowned as Emma angrily stomped towards the door of the classroom and turned around, apologising to the class, asking them to continue with their writing while she went outside. She stepped outside but kept the door open so she could still hear the class. She crouched down so she was face to face with the little girl. Her heart broke at the tears that were shining in her eyes.

"Emma, I am sorry. I know it has been a difficult weekend for you, but you cannot behave this way. You are going to have to stay behind during recess and finish the work you didn't do. I will be talking to your father after school. Now please go and sit down quietly."

She closed her eyes as Emma brushed past her and walked back into the room. She heard Gus ask if she was ok, and opened her eyes when she didn't hear a response, smiling slightly as she realised Emma was doing what she said. She entered the classroom again and began to walk around again, checking their work. When she got to Emma, Mary Margaret knelt down beside her, looking at the work. The little girl had written E and M repetitively on a line, before she practised her A's on the next line. The third line, the one she was currently working on, was filled with a messy scrawl of her full name.

"That's great Emma, you're doing a really good job." Emma looked up at the teacher and risked giving her a small smile, looking back to her work, the tip of her tongue stuck out as she concentrated. Mary Margaret stood and carried on, and soon the bell rang for recess. Emma took her time packing up, and as the rest of the class were led out by the TA, she stayed sat, looking up at Mary Margaret.

"I'm sorry Snow… I didn't mean it. Don't leave…" Mary Margaret moved to the now empty chair next to the girl she had grown to adore already.

"What do you mean don't leave Emma? I'm your teacher, I'm not going anywhere."

"Daddy got mad and he made you sad and now you're gonna leave us like my mommy did."

Mary Margaret frowned, and though her head told her not to, her heart told her to hug the little girl close, and so she did. "Listen sweetheart, you do not need to concern yourself with your daddy and I's friendship. No matter what happens, I will see you all the time at school, and I still live next door to you, so I'm sure I'll see you around. I promise I'm not leaving…" She waited until Emma nodded, looking her in the eyes so she knew she was telling the truth. "Now you are not allowed break today because of your behaviour. You will stay with me at lunchtime and afternoon recess. Then when your daddy comes to pick you up, we are going to go home and talk about this properly. You understand?" Emma nodded again, wiping the tears from her eyes.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Emma was quiet, subdued. She did all her work when asked, tidied up without being told, and listened properly for the rest of the day. At lunchtime, she sat with Mary Margaret as they ate, and when they were finished she sat, practising her numbers quietly while her teacher was putting together a work sheet. Mary Margaret texted David when Emma was distracted, telling her that everything was fine but they needed to talk after school but she received no response.

When lunch was over, the TA took the class to the music room and Mary Margaret sat at her desk, staring at her phone. She figured that David had realised that it would not work, starting a relationship with his daughter's teacher, and that that was all she would be from now on. It was difficult for her to accept as she looked through the pictures on her phone that she had taken in the time she had known her neighbours. It was then that she decided that when David did come to pick up Emma, she would officially tell him that whatever they had was over, that she would be there as a teacher to Emma, and a friend to both of them, but nothing more. It would hurt, but it would be the best thing for the little girl.

* * *

 **(Update - 16/12, I have about 500 words of the next chapter written, but I also have three essays to write and one month left to write them. I am also working extra hours over Christmas so I think from now it will slow. You either get shorter chapters weekly, or a longer wait between longer chapters, let me know what you would prefer in the reviews) :)**

 **(Update 17/12 - I spent last night ignoring my essays and writing the next chapter, I am now up to over 2000 words and I have to study tonight you have no idea but something happened at work and now I feel like my brain is slowly shutting down and I need to not be thinking about my essays just now. So who knows. Maybe I'll fail this degree.**


	13. Chapter 12

**/ So I wrote the first 500 words of this chapter two Tuesdays ago, when I finished the previous chapter, and then the next 1500 on Saturday (and Sunday as it is 12:01 17/12 as I am typing this.) I seem to be ignoring my essays in order to write, so though it will negatively affect me, you guys get the benefits. Might as well add that I studied zero last weekend, and wrote another 1000 words on the evening of 17/12 finishing at 12:04 on 18/12. That means, because of my uni stress, I threw out most of a 3000 word chapter in a weekend, a record for me.**

 **This is kind of a transitional, boring chapter, but I needed to resolve things from the previous and move it on somehow so. /**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

David arrived at the school ninety minutes after the final bell rang, an hour and forty minutes later than he usually arrived. Emma had been waiting for him since the bell had gone, and had watched each child walk out of the door to their parent, her face dropping as she noticed David was not there.

After ten minutes of waiting with her coat and backpack on, while Mary Margaret tidied the classroom, she stood up and walked out of the door, looking for David. Mary Margaret shot him a text, asking where he was and if he was ok before she followed the little girl, not wanting her to be alone, and sighed as she noticed Emma was sat on the floor in the corridor, hugging the stuffed pascal she'd hidden in her backpack after the weekend.

"Did daddy leave me too? Because I was bad?" Mary Margaret had to close her eyes and take a deep breath so she did not start crying at the state of the little girl. She lifted her into her arms and hugged her tightly, carrying her back into the room. She didn't say anything until they were sat together on the beanbag chairs in the reading corner.

"Of course your daddy has not left you sweetheart. He's probably just busy at work and he's not had a chance to let me know that. He will be here for you soon, and if he is not, I will take you home like last week. It's ok little one, don't cry." They remained sat together until Emma began to fidget, and Mary Margaret released her and she moved over to the bookcase, picking three books at random. She made her way back over to Mary Margaret and sat next to her, handing her the books without a word.

"Do you want to read with me sweetheart?" Emma merely shook her head, and Mary Margaret frowned, opening the first book, beginning to read to the little girl that was trying to stop the tears from running down her face. Mary Margaret had read two of the three books when Emma crawled into her lap, and she held her close as she started the third one, reading slowly until David rushed in, a little red in the face, looking around the room for his daughter until he spotted them in the corner. He noticed quickly that both of them had tears in their eyes and he was by their side in moments, lifting Emma into his arms.

"I am so sorry princess, work was… bad today. I didn't mean to worry you." Emma didn't reply, merely wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Not sure how he would react towards her, Mary Margaret stood and walked over to her desk, picking up her bag.

"Good afternoon Mr Nolan. Emma was just a little worried about you, but she is fine. If you're ready to go, I will walk out with you." She walked briskly out of the door, taking a deep breath only when she was out of sight of him. He followed her out moments later, carrying Emma in one arm, and her backpack on the other. The brunette started walking off, wanting to get in her car before she showed any emotion.

"Mary Margaret please wait" She stopped walking but did not turn around, and David used the opportunity to try and catch up to her, trying to edge in front of the corridor door, so she would listen to him. "Just wait a second…" After a beat, she glanced up at him, noticing firstly just how tightly he was clinging his daughter to him, before brushing it off.

"Not in front of Emma. Take Emma home and I'll come around when she's settled. Just text me, I have no plans." She pushed past where he was stood and made her way to her car, noticing that David had parked close to her. She was in her car and driving out of the school by the time David had managed to strap Emma in, but she got stuck behind a car that stalled, and by the time she was moving, David was right behind her.

The drive home was short, but to Mary Margaret it felt like forever. She was dreading getting home, and the conversation that would occur, even though she knew it needed to be said. She pulled up into her driveway and watched as David pulled into his, lifting Emma from the car. She was clinging tightly to him, as if she could not bear to be apart from him, and he glanced over at his neighbour as he carried her inside. Mary Margaret waited about half an hour before she deemed it appropriate to go next door and explain to her student's father about his daughter's behaviour that day.

She knocked. There was a lot of confusion around their relationship but she did know they were not at the stage where she could just walk into their house. She knocked again, not out of agitation that it hadn't been answered, but in case it hadn't been heard. That time, the door swung open and David stood on the other side, running his hand over his face, the exhaustion evident. Mary Margaret frowned as he stood aside, and stepped in, listening for where Emma may be.

"I'm sorry about this David, but we need to discuss Emma's behaviour at school today. I thought it better for everyone if I didn't call you into the school… that Emma might be more willing to talk in a less formal setting and given our… friendship…"

David sighed as he showed her into the main room, gesturing for her to sit. "It's fine, I understand. Do you want a drink?"

"Just water please. Where is Emma? Should we talk alone first or..?"

"She's upstairs taking a nap. Cried herself to sleep in my arms earlier. I can wake her up or let her sleep, whatever you think is best. You were the witness to her behaviour… I'll be right back…" Mary Margaret looked down at her nails, embarrassed that the situation had reached this stage and by the time she looked up he was gone. He returned minutes later, handing Mary Margaret a glass of water, and it was only then that she got a proper look at him, for the first time since he yelled at her at the cookout. She noticed how pale he was, how shallowly he seemed to be breathing and how, when he turned to go and sit on the chair opposite from him, he cringed in pain.

"So tell me what happened with Emma."

"Wait, David, something's wrong here. Why were you so late today? Why didn't you text me back?" When he didn't respond to her questions, she took a deep breath before speaking again. "Why did you make Emma think that you abandoned her, just like her mother did?" She was watching the man across from her. She noticed the flash of pain in his eyes and the guilt on his face. She felt guilty herself, she had said that because she knew it would hurt him, but when she saw it did, it didn't make her feel any better. "David I'm sorry, I…"

"Don't…" He stood up taking a deep breath, walking closer to his neighbour, his daughter's teacher, and one of the two people he cared about most in his life, one of the two people that he'd been thinking about earlier when he was trapped under parts of a burning building, sure he was never going to see them again.

With a pained groan, he lifted his shirt showing her a dressing barely covering the ugly purple bruise that was already evident on his side.

"David, what the hell?!" Mary Margaret rarely, if ever, swore, so it was a shock to both of them, but he brushed it off as Mary Margaret leapt from her chair, looking closely at the dressing. "You better tell me what happened right now…" She took his arm and pulled him carefully back to the sofa, sitting him down, perching next to him.

"I…" He cringed again as Mary Margaret touched the dressing, gently prodding the area to see the seriousness of it. "It was supposed to be an easy job. The structure was still sound despite the fire damage and so we thought we had enough time to get everyone out… We did, but as I was doing one last sweep, it was like the building just gave up and… I ended up under some rafters…" Mary Margaret gasped, looking up at David with a frown. "You went to the hospital right? Tell me you weren't stupid enough to not visit a doctor?!"

David rolled his eyes and smiled at the brunette despite the pain he was in. "I did, its policy. Any time we are injured at work, we have to get checked out and signed off by a doctor before we can go back to work…"

"Why didn't you tell me David? You were in the hospital alone? I could have bought Emma in or even just told her what was going on…" She frowned as he looked away. "You haven't told her?"

"How am I supposed to tell a four year old that her daddy was badly injured, that it causes him physical pain to pick her up and hug her? That for a second, he was worried that he was going to die in a fire and leave her all alone…" He paused, and for the first time since she had known him, Mary Margaret saw David close to tears. She moved to his unaffected side and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly.

"David I am so sorry…" She breathed, rubbing his back while he tried to calm his breathing. She waited for him to calm completely, unwilling to let him go until he asked her to. She thought back at what she been considering that day, and though she did want to speak to David about Emma's behaviour, the feeling that she had got when she heard that David had been injured showed her that she did not want to cut off whatever relationship was developing between them.

When David leaned back, Mary Margaret moved away, frowning at the dressing. David reached for her hand and squeezed it, causing her to look up at him. "So, what's actually happened..?"

"Couple of fractured ribs, cuts and bruises… I had to have a tetanus shot due to one particularly rusty nail, but a few weeks and I should be fine. At least it means I'm gonna be here all the time for a while…" The chief and the captain had been really understanding and made sure that David was not on the list for night time call outs unless absolutely necessary, since Emma was still so young, and he had been signed off by his doctor for at least the next two weeks. "We still need to talk to Emma about school…"

Mary Margaret shook her head. "That can wait… it's not really a priority at the moment. Are you ok? Can I get you anything? Are you going to tell Emma? She needs to be gentle with you now and…"

"Mare… calm down. I am fine. Thank you for your concern, but…" The teacher shook her head resolutely, blushing at the nickname.

"But nothing David. You are going to relax, and we are going to order pizza and watch a movie. You will not be doing anything this evening… You are not driving unless absolutely necessary, I will be taking Emma to and from school, whatever I can do to make your life easier." She smiled brightly, trying to ignore the nauseous feeling that was growing in the pit of her stomach. "I'm going to go and wake Emma up. We'll talk to her. She can choose the pizza and the movie, and it will be just the quiet evening that everyone needs." She stood quickly, not allowing him to say anything as she left, pausing outside the door to take a deep breath. She was concerned that she had overstepped and that David would yell again but she could see the ugly bruise in the back of her mind, and could picture him trapped under heavy building materials whenever she closed her eyes and she decided that it didn't matter.

When she got upstairs, she found Emma cuddled up to a teddy, staring at the door. She glanced up as Mary Margaret walked in and sat up, waiting for 'her Snow' to sit beside her. She didn't, instead she lifted the little girl into her arms, hugging her quickly, before heading to the stairs, talking to her as she walked down. "Listen sweetheart. Your daddy doesn't feel so good, so you need to be gentle with him, ok?" Emma nodded, and though she didn't really understand what had been said to her, see seemed to grasp that David was in pain, as when Mary Margaret set her down in the main room, she approached her father cautiously.

"Are you ok daddy? Was it a fire?" Emma looked so sad, it had been a long and difficult day for her and she was so tired. David couldn't stand to see the look in her eye, and so ignoring Mary Margaret's protests, he pulled Emma onto his lap, pressing a kiss to the top of her head, not sure how to explain what was going on. Instead, he aimed for distraction.

Listen princess, Snow is going to order some pizza, we thought you could pick a movie, and the three of us will spend some time together, how about that?" Emma nodded slowly, leaning into David's side. "Ok daddy."

Neither Emma nor David made any move to stand, and Emma smiled at the both as she pulled up the take out delivery service website on her phone, entering their zip code and searching for pizza places.

"What does everyone like?" She sat beside the pair on the sofa, flicking through the menu options for the closest place that delivered.

"Daddy likes pepponi but pepponi is gross. I like extra cheesy." Mary Margaret grinned at the no-nonsense attitude from the four year old. "Well luckily for daddy, I love pepperoni too, so we'll order that." She picked up her phone and quickly ordered a medium pepperoni and a kid's margherita pizza, adding a tub of ice cream to their order.

"Ok, that will be here in half an hour. Emma, why don't you go get into your jammies then come down and choose a movie. I just need to speak to your daddy a minute." The little girl carefully climbed off her father's lap and skipped upstairs. "Listen David, whatever happened this weekend cannot happen again. I know it was partly my fault, but Emma was clearly affected because she acted out in class today, all day. I want to apologise if what I said upset you, I spent time thinking about it and I can understand why maybe it did, but you have no right to speak to me the way you did on Saturday."

"I know…"

"I have not finished…" She glared at the blonde next to her for a moment before taking a breath and continuing. "I am not just some nosey woman who is trying to tell you how to raise your kid. I have a relationship with Emma. We have bonded. And I care for her best interests, almost as much as you do. I will never tell you how to raise her, because I do not have the right to do so. You have done so well with her, she is the most perfect little girl, and that is all you. But David…" She sighed, looking up at him. "I love her already… I have no intention of ever leaving her like her mother did. I want you to trust me to look after her when you can't, when she's at school, or when I'm caring for her when you're at work..."

It was immediately after she had spoken that Mary Margaret realised she had overstepped. She cringed inwardly and moved to stand up, cursing herself that she seemed to always do this. Before she could though, he grabbed her wrist, mimicking the action from a couple of weeks ago.

"I do trust you Mare. More than you know. Aside from Ruby, I would not trust anyone around Emma the way I do you. I have seen you two together. I know how much she loves you. And I can only apologise for the way I treated you this weekend. I can't promise I won't overreact again, but I promise I will always respect you, and trust you with my little girl." Mary Margaret did not know how to react to his apology, so simply wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him as closely as she could without hurting him. She felt him tense and noticed the pain on his face when she looked up at him, and sat back, handing him the glass of water and painkillers that were sat on the table.

The doorbell rang and Mary Margaret answered it quickly, tipping the delivery man before placing the pizzas on the table, looking around the kitchen for plates, and storing the ice cream in the freezer. She poured three glasses of juice, placing them on the table with the plates, and shook her head at David when he asked if he could help her. "I know his is your house David, but you are injured, and I am here to make everything I can easier for you. Now can I get you anything while I'm up?" When he shook his head, Mary Margaret called up the stairs for Emma.

Emma soon returned in her green footie pyjamas, with dinosaurs' scales like a Mohawk on the hood all the way down her back, settling next to David as she handed Mary Margaret a DVD from her personal collection she kept in her room. Mary Margaret placed it in the player and skipped through the ads, before putting pizza on plates and handing them out, sitting on the other side of Emma when she had her own, watching her reactions as the movie started. Mary Margaret had watched the movie with Roland when she was babysitting him, and loved the characters, especially Private the Penguin. Her nephew's favourite character had been the Alex the lion, the little boy having been obsessed with them almost since infancy, and she was interested to find out Emma's favourite character.

About halfway through the movie, Mary Margaret paused it, taking the pizza plates to the kitchen and dishing out some ice cream, chocolate for Emma and vanilla with chocolate sauce for herself. David, clearly exhausted from the day, and with the strong painkillers he had been described, had fallen asleep early on in the movie, and so Mary Margaret covered him with a blanket before settling with her ice cream. When Emma shifted across, she held her arms out, pulling her onto her lap. She pressed play on the movie and pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head as she took a bite of ice cream. It was quiet, the movie had been turned down, and the spoons were quietly scraping the bowls, and so, though Emma spoke softly, Mary Margaret heard it, and her response was easy.

"I love you Snow."

"I love you too sweetheart."

* * *

/ **I don't know why I add these long AN's but.. I have written approx 500? words of my gross negligence manslaughter essay yesterday (22/12) and have been writing 100 ish words a day of TPND, and although I have said it before, I definitely have reached the time where my writing will slow because of my studies. Especially since I had another surgery this week and it has caused some issues with the nerves in my hand so that is slowing me also.**

 **P.S. In the unlikely event any of my lovely readers are SQ fans, be sure to check out my Christmas fic from last year, A Very Cliche Christmas and leave it some love?**

 **So I don't know when I will update next, but I wish all of you a Happy Holidays, Merry Xmas, (belated) Happy Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate, and here's to a happy and healthy 2018!**


	14. Chapter 13

**/ Short fluffy chapter to work in a way of moving it on. I don't expect this story to go on a whole lot longer, I'd guess we're safely halfway through, and I do have a few ideas that still need to be written, the ideas that were the whole point of my story when I started it so.**

 **I started this when I finished the last one and I realise it took me two weeks to write what is probably the worst chapter yet, but I have made significant progress with my essays, and I am still in pain daily with my hand so writing has been slow. It will probably be another two weeks at least before I get the next chapter up as, from now (1am 06/01 at time of writing this note, not posting) I have 11 days till my deadline and then I will need a day or two to just catch up on sleep. Then I start semester 2 so writing will happen, I just don't know when. Thanks for sticking with me, if you have. Enjoy this shorter, crappier, not worth the wait chapter if you can. /**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

The rest of the week passed without trouble. Mary Margaret would pic Emma up from her house and take her to school, she would call David at lunch to check on him, and then take Emma home at the end of the day. For the first few days she would stay a little with the pair, either making sure they were eating properly, or to get any household work done that just couldn't wait until David was more healed. Emma behaved properly for the rest of the week, even confiding in Mary Margaret during recess on Friday that she was happy she and her daddy were friends again.

Mary Margaret would not hang around for the evenings after she had done all she needed to, and although she had seen the pair every day, when she woke up on Saturday morning, she found she missed them. She had decided to catch up on her paperwork, check through the kids workbooks, and create new worksheets. She was surprised when the doorbell rang and tightened her robe over her pyjamas going to open the door. When she saw it was her neighbours she cringed, cursing her plan to have pyjama day. She noticed David smirking at her cupcake pyjamas, visible at the bottom of the robe and blushed, looking down at the little girl who looked adorable in skinny jeans and an animal print t-shirt.

"Snow you hafta get dressed. We're going on a date!" Mary Margaret blanched and looked up at the adult.

"Excuse me?"

David was laughing as he ruffled Emma's hair, earning him a glare from the little girl. "What Emma means is, she and I would like to take you out, if that is ok with you?" He looked her up and down again, smirking. "That is, unless you're busy…" Mary Margaret rolled her eyes and held her hand out to Emma, who took it eagerly.

"Nothing I can't do tomorrow. You can pick me and Emma up in an hour." With a wink to the littlest blonde, she pulled her inside and closed the door, laughing when Emma started giggling. She let go of her hand and they walked into the main room together, the brunette turning to Emma. "Was this his idea sweetheart?"

She nodded vigorously. "He said he wanted to thank you for helping us this week. And he said that he wanted to go out with you. And then he asked if I wanted to come or if I wanted to stay with Granny and I want to come with you." She suddenly looked shy. "Is that ok?"

Mary Margaret crouched down so she was face to face with her student. "That's great sweetheart. Do you want to help me choose what to wear?" This time she nodded eagerly, and started up the stairs, the schoolteacher following up behind her.

Emma led Mary Margaret into her own bedroom and walked straight to the closet, pulling it open with the dramatic flair only a four year old could. She glanced at the contents and then frowned at Mary Margaret.

"You don't have any princess dresses…"

"I'm an adult monkey. Grown-ups don't wear princess dresses."

The little girl pouted, looking upset. "But you're Snow White. You're a princess. And daddy is Prince Charming. Then when you get married you'll be queen and I'll be your princess."

Mary Margaret's heart swelled at the idea of what she had mentioned, before shaking her head, tilting Emma's chin up so she was looking at her. "No matter what, you are a princess, Emma. You're your daddy's princess. Maybe one day, I will be queen, but even if I'm not, you'll be my princess too. Ok?" The little girl nodded and wrapped her arms around Mary Margaret's knees.

Mary Margaret ruffled Emma's curls as she looked through her outfits, deciding on an outfit that looked similar to her students. It was casual, for whatever they ended up doing, but it was still cute enough for a date. "Ok princess, I know what I'm going to wear. Why don't you go and watch cartoons while I change ok?" Emma was out of the door quickly and Mary Margaret heard her footsteps thumping down the stairs before she changed into her skinny jeans and striped shirt, pulling the hair tie from her hair, letting her own natural curls fall. She grabbed her purse from the dresser, checking she had all her essentials, and grabbed a jacket, the only leather one she owned, carrying it, along with her purse downstairs to where Emma was waiting.

The little girl had taken her red pen from where she was marking at the table, and was trying one of the worksheet drafts that Mary Margaret was putting together, her tongue sticking out as she was concentrating. Mary Margaret sat opposite her without a word, waiting until the blonde had finished. She took the proffered sheet when she handed it to her and began to mark it. Emma had successfully done the few basic sums and added in the correct vowels to cat, dog, hat, dig and cot, connecting them to the right images, but the rest of the worksheet had proved too difficult. Mary Margaret used the green pen, placing large ticks and small crosses as she marked, ending the sheet with a smiley face sticker and a 'good effort' before handing it back to the girl who was waiting eagerly.

"You are a very smart little girl Emma. I can't wait to see how you are doing at the end of the year, your daddy will no doubt be so proud of you!" Emma was beaming as she climbed down from the table to go and switch on the cartoons like Mary Margaret had allowed her to. The pair watched the TV together for the rest of the hour until David was due to return. She had informed him earlier in the week that depending on the hour, if Emma was at Mary Margaret's house he could simply walk in, without needing to knock or wait outside, but she was still a little surprised when she looked up to see David standing in the doorway watching them.

"Woah, David, I didn't see you there…" David laughed, as Emma finally noticed he was there.

"Daddy!"

"Well I am sorry I didn't announce myself but I got distracted seeing two beautiful girls…" Mary Margaret snorted while Emma beamed.

"Aren't you a real Prince Charming?" The brunette smirked up at the blonde who rolled his eyes.

"I have a name you know." Mary Margaret stood and walked towards him.

"Don't care. Charming suits you." Her eyes sparkled as she grinned up at her neighbour, biting her lip as she saw the same smile reflected on David's face. For a moment, the pair forgot Emma was watching.

"Hi."

Mary Margaret's reply was breathy "Hi." She glanced down at David's lips and back up, ignoring Emma's 'ew' as David leaned down to kiss her. She pulled back after a moment and glanced at Emma. "We should get going…" David leaned around Mary Margaret to look at Emma and smiled.

"We're gonna be outside today Em, go upstairs, do toilet and make sure you wash your hands please." The little girl nodded and skipped upstairs, David pulling Mary Margaret into his arms as soon as she was out of the door. "One day soon you and I are going on a proper date. We'll leave Emma with Granny and do things grown-ups do." Mary Margaret giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"And what exactly do grown-ups do when they're not being stalked by four year olds?" David smirked down at the woman in his arms and waggled his eyebrows.

"I can think of a few things…" Mary Margaret shook her head, burying her face in his shoulder as she blushed. Revelling in the warmth of how close they were, David took his finger and thumb, tilting her chin up towards him. Mary Margaret could swear it was something akin to love that was reflected in his eyes before he pressed a kiss to her jaw, then to the corner of her mouth before kissing her properly. Mary Margaret leaned up as she responded to his kiss, moving her arms from around his waist to around his neck.

They broke apart only when they heard Emma thumping down the stairs, but when Mary Margaret moved to step back, David tightened his arms around her, not wanting to their hold on each other. Emma walked into the room and glanced at the pair, before looking away and going back to the sofa before unpausing her cartoons. David raised his brow at the young girl, but Mary Margaret shook her head, drawing his attention back to her.

"Why don't we let Emma finish her cartoons and then we can head out to wherever you planned we go…"

"You spoil that little girl Snow, I want to take you out, she can watch cartoons at any time..." He pouted dramatically and kissed the tip of her nose.

Mary Margaret giggled at the look on his face, pulling out of his arms only to take his hand and link their fingers. "I was right. You are a regular Prince Charming…" She turned to face the littlest blonde as the music for the credits began to play, and leaned against David, watching Emma as she kept her eyes glued until the very end of the cartoon.

"Get your jacket princess, we're gonna go out now, it's time to show Snow more of Santa Monica." Mary Margaret looked quizzically at David, biting her lip as she tried to work out where he planned on taking her.

"I know you got it off Emma, but you are not the first adult to call me that. Do you think I actually look like that cartoon from almost 80 years ago or has everyone just heard it from your young mini-me over there?" David pretended to look hurt at the comment, but his eyes sparkled as he looked over at his little girl who was pretending not to watch the next cartoon that was showing, clearly proud at the fact she was so much like him.

"Fine, 5 more minutes… Then we really have to go."

* * *

The walk to the pier was not too long, and Emma kept the pair entertained by making up little stories and telling them little facts, most of them made up too. By the time they reached the entrance to Palisades Park, Emma was lagging and so David lifted her up so she could sit on his shoulders. It was evident from the off that he was in pain, a week was not long enough to heal his injuries, and so she rolled her eyes, stepping in front of the pair to make them stop walking. David frowned at her when she shook her head at him.

"Emma, why don't I give you a piggyback to the pier? Your daddy needs all his energy for the rides when we get there!" She looked pointedly at David, glancing down at his ribs and back so he knew what she was talking about. He lifted Emma from his shoulders, visibly wincing at the pain, and passed her over to Mary Margaret who hugged her briefly before putting her down and crouching so she could climb onto her back. When she was comfortable, they continued their walk to the pier, Emma seemingly much more awake when she saw the steps down to the beach.

"Daddy can we go there? We can eat on the roof, look!"

"Well, shouldn't we ask our date if she wants Italian food? We're trying to get a second date here Em…" He stage whispered the last part to the little girl, winking up at the brunette who was watching them with a smile.

"Italian sounds great."

They were seated quickly, and Mary Margaret helped Emma pick out her meal while David picked out a glass of wine for his date. When Emma had finally picked mac and cheese, Mary Margaret looked through the menu, glancing at David to ask what he was getting.

Together they decided to share a platter of antipasti and Mary Margaret gratefully accepted the glass of wine that the waiter suggested. The food was delivered and Mary Margaret picked at the olives and sundried tomatoes while David tucked into the bruschetta and the meats. Emma eagerly devoured her mac and cheese, and had eaten the small portion before Mary Margaret had drunk half her glass of wine, and was glancing from Mary Margaret to her plate of food, before pouting at the brunette. The schoolteacher shook her head with a grin and picked the mozzarella balls from her plate, placing them onto Emma's, laughing loudly as she took one bite and spat it out.

David joined in the laughter as Emma pouted again with her arms crossed, miffed her father and friend were laughing at her, and glared at her empty plate until Mary Margaret began tickling her, and she began to laugh too.

They didn't stay too much longer, Emma repeatedly asking them if they were finished made them hurry up eating, and before long they were walking down the stairs, out into the bright sunshine. Emma immediately ran towards the rides area of the pier, with David calling out for her to stop before she got even ten feet away. The little blonde actually stamped her foot but waited until they had reached her, taking Mary Margaret's proffered hand. She linked her free arm with David's and leant her head on his shoulder for a moment, revelling in the warm feeling that was spreading through her. Together they walked to the Pacific Park part of the pier and paid for wristbands enabling them to go on whichever rides they chose.

Emma stood stock still, in awe of the pacific wheel that was turning above her, not turning away until David promised her they would go on it, all together, soon, but first they were going to take her on the kiddie rides.

Their first stop was the frog jump, and David helped strap the young girl in as Mary Margaret stood behind the barrier, leaning into David when he joined her, linking their fingers. There was no queue after the first go and so she remained strapped in while the ride went again, her father and neighbour watching with big smiles as she went up in the air, bumping down as she squealed and giggled. They tried the sea planes ride next, with David sitting next to Emma and Mary Margaret on the seat in front, and then the brunette and the littler blonde went on the wave rollercoaster ride while David watched, assuming the bouncing movement would agitate the ache in his side more than it was hurting. They spent a little time on the games, both adults helping Emma play and try and win the prizes, both of them winning her a stuffed toy. David and Mary Margaret held hands as they walked, the four year old skipping a few paces ahead of them until she arrived at a game she wanted to play. Mary Margaret held Emma as they played the game trying to score baskets, arguing over which prize would be better, the Dalmatian dog or Tim the teddy from the minions movie.

When they won, of course Mary Margaret asked for the Tim prize and Emma chatted away happily, hugging it close to her as they walked to the next ride. It was another one David did not want to go on and so he waved his date and his daughter off as they got on the ride, stating he was going to find a bathroom. They rode it a second time, as there was only a few in the queue and they filled the empty seats, and when they got off, David was waiting with a grin. He hugged Emma first, exclaiming in fake surprise when Emma described the ride is great detail, and when she pulled Tim out of Mary Margaret's bag and started to explain to him, David put his arm around the waiting brunette and kissed her soundly. Mary Margaret wrapped her arms around his waist, linking her fingers as she leaned into him and tilted her chin, looking up at him till he kissed her again. She only held on for a moment, before she grabbed hold of whatever he was trying to hide behind his back and pulled it from his grip.

"Aha, what's this…?"

David frowned for a moment, and then pouted that his surprise had been ruined, but he couldn't help but beam at the look on Mary Margaret's face as she stared at the Dalmatian toy he'd gone back and won.

"Is this..?"

"For you, yes…" The grin on her face was then directed at him, and she squealed much like Emma had, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him again.

"That's so sweet of you… you actually have no idea how much this means to me..." She snickered as the smile on his face widened and he almost blushed. "I love it, thank you..." She hugged it briefly and linked her arm with David's as they moved towards the next ride over where Emma was watching them intensely with a frown. Mary Margaret knelt down in front of Emma, placing her bag beside her, as she waved the stuffed dog in the air. "Look Em, this is Pongo. Now Tim has a friend to play with when you and he come over, isn't that great?" Emma looked from the toy to Mary Margaret to her father and then back again before she nodded, lifting Tim so he was nose to nose with Pongo, starting a conversation between the two stuffed teddies. Mary Margaret stood up from her crouched position and stepped closer to David, taking his hand in hers.

"Pongo… he was our dog, mine and my sister, Regina's when we were growing up. Our parents got him as a way for us to connect and bond, and the markings on that teddy are almost identical, scarily so… thank you for the gift David, truly." The tall blonde was about to respond when Emma screamed, and the couple immediately broke apart from each other, looking to the girl who was pointing to a man who had grabbed Mary Margaret's bag from the floor and ran off with it. Without a second thought, David was off after him, on his heels as they ran down the pier.

Mary Margaret quickly lifted Emma who was holding the teddies close to her, hugging her tight and walked quickly after the men. When they walked out of the Pacific Park section she saw David and another stranger with the person who'd taken her bag. The stranger was on the phone, while David was standing in front of the thief holding onto the bag. When he saw his date and daughter walking towards him, he glared at the man and walked towards them, handing her back the back, lifting the four year old out of her arms as she reached for him. "Daddy, why did you run?"

David looked between the two with a frown, unsure exactly why he had chased a man half the length of the pier, a week after almost being crushed by a building, but one look into the eyes of his neighbour and he knew he would do anything for her. Mary Margaret saw him look at her and she took a deep breath, stepping towards him. With no hint of teasing or malice, she answered for him. "Because your daddy is a real Prince Charming." She hugged the pair briefly, before thanking David earnestly.

Glancing at the adults, Emma hugged her father, before looking over his shoulder.

"Daddy, can we go to the beach now?"

* * *

 **No I didn't proof read, in case you can't tell. I wanted it up asap.**

 **I had so much trouble with this, it wouldn't let me upload my new document, so I had to copy and paste into my next one. I'm beginning to worry about how much longer this account will last with everything that is going wrong. If I have to make a new account, will you guys continue to read?**


	15. Chapter 14

**/So I'm sorry that this was so late. I was going to post on Saturday (because I finished on the 17** **th** **) but work was crazy and there were two birthdays and another event and then I was just trying to catch up with life for the next few days. I'm going to try and write the next chapter for Saturday but as it is Tuesday and life is eventful at the moment that might not happen. And then I start back at uni on the 29** **th** **so after that there will be less chance of frequent updates. I will get it done sometime though. Shorter than some but I needed to get something up./**

* * *

The weeks passed quickly and before they knew it, it was mid-October. The days had been filled with school for Emma and Mary Margaret, and after another week off, David had gone back to work. The group of three would spend one day every other weekend as a group, exploring Santa Monica, sometimes even travelling outside it to other areas, visiting Malibu and Venice Beach on two of the trips. On a different weekend day on the alternate weekends, Mary Margaret and David would go on a date, sometimes during the day and sometimes in the evenings, but never too late to pick up Emma from Granny's. The other weekend days they would stick to themselves, Mary Margaret joining a book club in town, while David enrolled in karate classes, which coincidentally coincided with the dance classes Emma just _had_ to join, with odd times Mary Margaret taking her to class when she ended up babysitting.

The couple had grown closer than Mary Margaret could ever have expected, and had found themselves together a few evenings when Emma had gone to bed, locked in a passionate embrace on the sofa, just about stopping before it grew too physical, both of them not comfortable enough to take that step while Emma was in the house. They'd had a big argument, which resulted in the pair yelling at each other, bringing up what had occurred at the cook-out weeks previously, before Mary Margaret burst into tears, bringing the fight to an abrupt end. But mostly they were happy, content in the little bubble that they had created.

With Emma now in school full time, and David happy with Mary Margaret as a babysitter, he had picked up some more hours at the station, telling them he would rather do day shifts and weekends than nights, but he would do nights if required. After a major fire had caused a few of the night shift team to take time off due to some severe injuries, David along with Mulan and Killian were informed they could be called in to help cover at moment's notice. That had led to a few evenings after school of Emma going to Mary Margaret's house waiting for David to return home, only for him not to return until the early hours of the next morning. The first time that had happened, Emma had fallen asleep on the sofa, and had whined when Mary Margaret tried to lift her up. The second time, Mary Margaret had a little notice and so had carried the four year old up to her bed when she was falling asleep, settling herself onto the sofa that night.

It was after David had been asked to cover two more night shifts that Mary Margaret had come up with an idea, one that the four year old had been all for when she shared it with her. Which is why the three of them were currently stood in Mary Margaret's spare room, painting the walls a pale green colour that Emma had picked out, the radio playing songs that ranged from the 80s to modern pop and love songs. David had reluctantly agreed to the plan to turn Mary Margaret's spare room into a room for Emma, as she was spending a significant amount of time next door to her home. He had firstly offered for Mary Margaret to just look after Emma in his house so she had her room and her toys with her, but after a discussion with his girlfriend he realised that was probably not the best idea.

Realising that her roller had no paint on it, and that she was just painting over the same spot repeatedly, she turned, seeing David watching his daughter as she painted the next wall with a smaller roller. David himself was painting the edges, taping the skirting board to prevent drips and had noticed that his girlfriend seemed to be in her own world. The song changed, and with a glance at his daughter to make sure she was being careful with the paint he walked over to Mary Margaret, taking the roller from her hands as he pulled her into his arms, spinning her once. Her surprise passed quickly and she smiled shyly up at the taller blonde, moving her hands to around his neck while he wrapped his around her waist. She recognised the song and was surprised about just how relevant the lyrics were.

Emma looked back at her father and teacher, deciding she wasn't interested enough to get involved in the dancing, so used the fact that her father wasn't watching her to her advantage, dipping her hand in the paint and pressing it to the wall.

As the couple danced in one spot, they were watching only each other, and to Mary Margaret, it was like they were the only two people in the room.

 _Settle down with me  
And I'll be your safety  
You'll be my lady…_

David began to sing along to the lyrics, quietly, and slightly out of key, and Mary Margaret grinned, leaning against his chest.

 _My heart's against your chest, your lips pressed to my neck  
I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet  
And with this feeling I'll forget, I'm in love now_

 _Kiss me…_

They moved together until the end of the song until she did exactly what he was singing to her, and kissed him.

"Didn't know you were a fan of Ed Sheeran David…" She giggled, pulling out of his arms as she turned to face Emma, only then noticing the handprints on the wall, along with the messy scrawl she'd obviously painted with her finger. It was mostly illegible, until the pair knelt down to her height, seeing better the words 'daddy luvs snow' with the second 'y' and the s's written backwards. Mary Margaret looked from the little girl to her father, who seemed to be blushing.

"Wow Emma, that's so creative, well done!" Emma beamed at the praise from her father. Mary Margaret, sensing the blonde's hesitation, joined in.

"Yes Emma, you have such a wonderful imagination. You should write stories!" Emma grinned. She thought they would be mad but they seemed to be happy. David went back to painting, not noticing the way his girlfriend was watching him.

Emma quickly distracted her by asking for help and the three carried on painting, the two blondes warbling along to the songs on the radio. Mary Margaret hummed along, but didn't sing out loud, not being able to sing in front of others since she took voice lessons as a child.

By the end of the day, they had finished the base coat and David had painted the ceiling while Mary Margaret and Emma cooked dinner. They'd eaten together and watched a movie, before David deemed it time to get the little one to bed. Looking at the sprawled out blonde on the beanbag chair she'd purchased a week earlier, who was so clearly fighting sleep, she agreed, switching off the tv, gaining a half-hearted complaint from Emma. The brunette gathered up their things while David lifted Emma into his arms, holding her tight as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He managed to manoeuvre the blonde in his arms so he could take their bags off his girlfriend, kissing her cheek as he walked past her toward the door.

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes and followed him with a grin, pressing a kiss to Emma's forehead he stepped out of the front door. They stood, watching each other for a few moments before she leaned up and kissed him properly, only stopping at the feeling of a small hand pushing her face away. She looked to Emma who was smiling the cheeky smile Mary Margaret loved so much and then to David who was pouting. She kissed him quickly and took a step back.

"I'll see you tomorrow…"

* * *

The next day David and Mary Margaret had planned to spend some time together while Emma was on a playdate with Gus. He'd invited her around on the Friday for the Saturday, but with the plans to decorate the room on the Saturday, David had allowed her to spend the day at her 'best friends' house on Sunday. Like Emma, Gus was being raised only by his dad, and the pair had gotten quite close in the number of weeks they'd been in the same class at school.

David had woken early to Emma jumping on his bed, much in the same way that he had on the day he first met Mary Margaret and he knew she was excited to go to see her friend. He on the other hand, had decided it was time to plan his little princess's fifth birthday party, and was hoping Mary Margaret would not mind helping him.

After he dropped his little girl off at her friend's house, giving him a stern warning not to let his little princess get hurt he made his way to Mel's to pick up some breakfast for him and his girlfriend before he made his way to her house. When he arrived, she greeted him with a kiss, putting all that she could muster behind it. When they finally pulled apart, slightly breathless, she realised they were still in the doorway and pulled him inside by the sides of his jacket. He waited a few seconds while she shut the door and then turned her and pressed her back against it so he could kiss her again. It was only then when the brunette's stomach growled that he stepped backwards, rubbing his thumb across her cheek as she grinned up at him.

"You bought me food… you must want something?" David laughed, carrying the bag into the kitchen, tickled by how well she knew him already.

"You're right, I did come here to ask for your help. Its Emma's birthday next week and I haven't planned a party yet. It's the first real party she'll have, Kathryn didn't think she needed one when she was one, and we just had a little gathering or an adventure day for the next few years, but now she has friends and she's old enough to understand and I think she would like a party…" Mary Margaret smiled at how flustered he was getting, the idea of throwing his princess the perfect party taking a lot of his focus.

"I would be honoured to help. I think we would need to start planning today… we can talk about it while we finish her room." They sat at the table and ate breakfast, discussing what they still needed for Emma's room, and they decided to go to the store to pick up some items for her room and for the party. On the drive they decided that as she had a spare bed and most necessary furniture in her spare room, now Emma's, including the beanbag chair when it wasn't being used downstairs; they would find some princess decals for the walls and get her a few essentials that would help her be comfortable when her father was working late.

When they got back from the store the pair worked quickly and within the hour they had finished decorating a modest room for the little girl and had started planning the party, sat at the dining room table with their laptops and notebooks, throwing ideas back and forth.

"Bouncy house?"

"Obviously."

"Face painter?"

"Definitely."

"Princess Entertainer?"

When there was no immediate answer, Mary Margaret glanced over her laptop at David who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"…I didn't even think of that. Thank heavens you are here to help me. I was just about to ask if we should get a clown…" Mary Margaret laughed, a deep, loud laugh that caused David to stop what he was typing and just watch her.

"Ok, well next question is which princess?"

"She seems pretty attached to Snow White, so maybe that one..?"

They carried on discussing and planning, with David eventually making some calls and booking people to attend. By the time they had finished what they were doing, it was well past 3pm. The pair decided they'd done enough for the day and as they'd skipped lunch, it was the perfect opportunity to go and eat before they picked up Emma. They found an IHOP on the way to where Marco and Gus lived and decided to stop there, Mary Margaret ordering the turkey, avocado and bacon wrap, with David ordered a Philly cheese steak stacker, which when delivered, Mary Margaret stole more than one bite of.

They went for a walk after, at first they were just holding hands, which changed to linked fingers, and before long she had her arm around his shoulder while he wrapped his around her waist. They walked and talked for over an hour before David deemed it late enough to go and pick Emma up. They were in the car and driving to Marco's house and reached there a little after 5. When they arrived, Marco led the pair to the den where he said the kids were playing, seeing instead that Emma was sat next to Gus, helping him read his book. Mary Margaret couldn't help but smile at the sight. All three adults stood silently in the doorway watching Emma teach him the word spaghetti.

"No Auggie, it doesn't start with a 'p' it starts with a 'ssssss' like snake."

"How come you know all these words Em? My papa says pasgetti all the time."

"Snow and daddy read with me and she teaches me the big words."

"Is Snow your new mommy?"

"Snow is my friend. She loves my daddy…" David cleared his throat loudly and stepped into the room, drawing the attention of both the four year olds. Emma jumped from her seat and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his legs as she hugged him, before doing the same to Mary Margaret, with the latter leaning down to lift the blonde into her arms.

"Say thank you to Mr Booth for looking after you." Emma grinned at the man stood watching the three of them, waving.

"Thank you Marco. Thanks for playing with me Auggie." She leaned her head onto the brunettes shoulder, and after David thanked the father-son pair, they were out of the door, walking to the car, Emma clinging tightly to her 'Snow' the whole way, chattering about her day.

Mary Margaret wasn't really listening. She was thinking back to her student's question and the look on Emma's face when she was answering. She couldn't deny that one of the things she wanted most in the world was for that answer to, at least eventually, be yes.

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 **/Also, you can now (if ya want ta) follow my new insta at clairejkpwrites for updates, spoilers, extra stuff to do with my writing etc./**


	16. Chapter 15

**/The poem is by the amazing Shel Silverstein, no copyright intended. Also, the books mentioned are real and are by the authors listed. Work was awful this past weekend, but I wanted to post before I start uni again next week. The next chapter moves the story on I think, but it will be a while before I get it up./**

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The first thing Emma did at school on Monday was tell everyone in her class it was her birthday that weekend and they were all invited to her party. David had suggested to Mary Margaret that they leave it a surprise and she hand out the invitations to her classmate, but the brunette quickly informed him that a room of four and five year olds would not be able to keep the party a secret from Emma. They'd told her when they got her home on Sunday and she hadn't stopped talking about it all evening.

It took Mary Margaret three attempts to get the little girl to pay attention in class, after she would not stop talking about her party and only did turn to her spelling worksheet when her father's girlfriend threatened to cancel it.

Of course when she dropped Emma back at home, the first thing out of the blonde's mouth was tattle telling on Mary Margaret.

"Snow threated to cancel my party daddy, tell her she can't!"

David knelt down to greet his daughter, grinning up at his girlfriend.

"Good afternoon to you too baby, my day was great, how was yours?"

"Daddyyyyyy." She whined but she was smiling as she hugged him before handing him her rucksack, heading into the main room. The adults waited until she'd cleared the room before David stood and they embraced, releasing her as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Your daughter certainly is excitable, and if threatening to cancel her party is what it takes to get her to pay attention in class then that is what I will continue to do." David laughed as he took her hand and pulled her into the main room, the pair both surprised to see Emma working on the math homework sheet she had been given, one that didn't need to be handed in until Friday.

They sat on the sofa, a movie playing quietly, while they looked between the blonde and the TV, answering the questions when Emma asked them, talking softly so she couldn't hear them, about her birthday party. When Emma had finished, she climbed down from the table and walked over to the sofa clambering up onto David's lap. Without a word she handed the homework sheet to Mary Margaret who smiled warmly and looked over her answers without marking them with a pen.

"Wow Em, I'm impressed! You've done really well here." The little girl nodded and leaned in closer to her father, yawning widely.

"Can I go play in my room now Daddy? I'm tired." David pressed a kiss to the top of her head with a grin.

"Of course princess, we'll call you when dinner is ready." The little girl scrambled down from David's lap and was out of the room with a wave to the adults. The pair decided to watch another movie before they started on dinner, having decided that some breaded chicken and curly fries would be quick and easy.

Mary Margaret flipped through the channels, stopping on one of the many movies that starred Katherine Heigl, having loved the actress since her days in Grey's Anatomy, before she pulled her legs up under her and leaned closer into her partner, snuggling into him as he wrapped an arm around her. They didn't watch much of the movie, instead making out on the sofa like a couple of teenagers until Emma called for her 'Snow' from upstairs.

David sighed as he released Mary Margaret from his arms and she grinned as she kissed him once more before following the demanding voice of her favourite student to her room. She found her sitting on her bed, the book of poetry on her lap open to a page where the illustrations were of snow. Mary Margaret grinned and joined her sat on the bed.

"What's up sweetheart?"

"I want to read this poem for daddy, can you help me?"

Mary Margaret couldn't help but beam at the inquisitive little girl and knew in that moment that she was for as long as she was in the little girl's life, she would continue to encourage and hopefully motivate her reading and learning. "I would love to. Why don't you start reading it to me and I'll help if you get stuck." Emma nodded, snuggling into her side with a happy sigh.

" _I made myself a snowball  
As perfect as could be.  
I thought I'd keep it as a pet  
And let it sleep with me.  
I made it some pajamas  
And a pillow for its head.  
Then last night it ran(ned) away,  
But first it wet the bed."_

By the end of the poem Mary Margaret was watching the little girl, open mouthed. She was pleasantly surprised at how well the almost-five year old had read the poem, only wrongly pronouncing perfect, thought and pajamas, and adding a few extra letters to ran. Quickly, but positively pointing out the mistakes and issuing corrections, she hugged the girl tightly and stood up, holding out her hand.

Emma went one better and held out her arms so Mary Margaret would pick her up and she did, the blonde clinging tightly to her neck as she was carried downstairs. David was cooking dinner and the adults swapped places, Mary Margaret at the oven and David stood near the doorway as Emma recited the poem almost word perfectly. David showed as much enthusiasm as Mary Margaret had, lifting her and spinning her in a circle until she laughed so hard she couldn't breathe.

The three spent the evening together, Mary Margaret washing dishes while David bathed Emma, and then the pair put her to bed together, reading stories and giving her a goodnight kiss on the forehead. Knowing they had only been dating a handful of weeks, David had to force himself to swallow back the 'I love you' when she was leaving that night, not wanting to scare her off. What he clearly didn't realise was that Mary Margaret was doing the same thing for the same reason.

* * *

Although Emma's party was on the Saturday, her actual birthday was the Friday. With Mary Margaret being as close to Emma as she was, she had decided to cancel the class the last period after afternoon recess and allow the children to do what they wished in the free time. She had seen a video online about how art class increases communication among young children and so when the class were at lunch she turned one of the tables upside down on another, wrapping saran wrap around the legs. She pulled the bookcase away from the wall in another corner and surrounded it in the beanbag chairs and set another table up with the board games that they saved for rainy recess. They had a science lesson first, where Mary Margaret tried to get them to recite the five senses and connect them to the relevant body parts, with that class giving her an idea on how to introduce the class to the French language, and then she set them loose to do whatever they wanted as long as they behaved.

At the end of the day as each of the children left to go to their parents she handed out little packets of candy, a tradition that Mary Margaret had in her old school where the birthday child bought in candy for the rest of the class. More often than not, she would end up purchasing the candy when the parents couldn't afford the additional luxury and giving it to the child to hand out. As her class had less than twenty students, she decided to do the same this year for each child's birthday.

David had planned for them to eat at Mel's and had scheduled with Ruby to skype her as a surprise for Emma. Deciding to forgo marking and any work related paperwork for the weekend, Mary Margaret and Emma left for Mel's after the rest of the students had left and arrived shortly before four, and the pair went up the counter to say hi to Granny. Mary Margaret had text David when they were leaving the school so he knew what time they were coming in, and she left Emma at the cake counter with Granny and approached their regular booth just in time to hear Ruby ask if his relationship with Mary Margaret had gone any further than their first date. In answer to her question, Mary Margaret leaned across the table to kiss David soundly on the lips grinning at Ruby's loud laughter through the screen. Emma ran up moments later, yelling for her daddy to look at the cake Granny had given her for free. Mary Margaret glanced around the room seeing most of the patrons were watching the scene. David hugged Emma tightly as she settled on his lap, only then noticing the woman on the screen.

"RUBES!" Another screech caused Mary Margaret to cringe as she settled in the booth next to David, wanting to be able to talk to her new friend.

"Hey munchkin. Happy Birthday! Did you have a good day at school?"

Emma nodded as she leaned into her teacher, still remaining sat on her father's lap and began to discuss every little aspect of her life, including dance class, to her friends at school and her room at Mary Margaret's. The brunette didn't miss the smug smile that crossed the younger brunettes face as she watched how the little girl she once cared for was with her friend. They group chatted for a little while longer and by the time the food they ordered was delivered, Ruby was hanging up, stating she had a train to catch.

The adults had decided to give their proper gifts to Emma on her actual birthday, and save a few for her party the day after. Mary Margaret had spent the past two nights researching the perfect gift to give her for her birthday, and had found a collection of what she deemed 'perfect' books. She had wrapped the books in a box and so once the girl had finished her pancakes and bacon, a treat for her birthday, she handed the perfectly wrapped box to the little girl, who tore into it quickly. David leaned sideways and kissed the brunette as Emma pulled out 'A Paper Bag Princess' by Robert Munsch, 'Rufus the Writer' by Elizabeth Bram, 'My Father's Dragon' by Ruth Stiles Gannett and 'The Chocolate Touch' by Patrick Skene Catling. In a separate bag she had individually wrapped Grimm's Fairy Tales and A Classic Case of Dr Seuss and she beamed as Emma's eyes grew wider with each book. She flicked through the book of Grimm's tales until David handed her a box from under the table, which she opened with just as much gusto, opening it to find a helmet inside.

She shifted in her seat until she was facing her father and gave him a wide grin, placing the helmet on her head gesturing for David to strap it on. "Did you get me a bike daddy?" At his nod she lunged over the table at him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you Thank you Thank you!"

They didn't stay at the diner for much longer. Emma wanted to get home to get on her bike and David wanted to start setting up for the party. With Mary Margaret having a more maintained garden they decided they'd have the party across both houses, opening the gate in the fence between the properties that David had installed at the beginning of October. They would do most of the prep the next morning, and when they got home they did a few things in their gardens, setting up a picnic table, and clearing the area next to the patio where the bouncy castle would be going. Emma of course spent the whole time cycling between the gardens with her helmet and elbow and knee pads on. When the adults had finished they stood together, David behind Mary Margaret as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her close, just watching the little girl.

When it started to get dark they decided to go inside, David offering ice cream and a movie. Both he and Mary Margaret were surprised when Emma declined, telling them she wanted to read her new books instead and they watched the now 5 year old go through the books that she had been given picking out one of Mary Margaret's favourite books.

"Daddy, can we read this one? It's Dr Sess… suz… I can't say it…" Before David could say anything, Mary Margaret scooped the little girl up into her arms, sitting down next to David on the sofa.

"Dr Seuss… say is like 'soos'." She held out her hand for the book, smiling gratefully when Emma handed it to her and she flicked through the pages. "'Oh, The Places You'll Go' is one of my all-time favourite books, my sister gave me a copy when I graduated from college and it's still one of my most treasured belongings. I wanted my favourite little girl to have a copy and hopefully love it as much as I do…" Emma took the book back from her and opened it, leaning against Mary Margaret's chest as she held it out to David.

"Will you read to us Daddy?" Almost mimicking the position that the couple had been in previously, the schoolteacher wrapped her arms around the little girl, holding her tight.

"Congratulations! Today is your day…You're off to great places… You're off and away…"

Emma had listened intently to the book, absorbing every word, while Mary Margaret simply watched the man she loved as he shared her favourite book with his daughter, seeing the way his eyes lit up when Emma would giggle at something in the book, noticing the glances he threw her way every so often. When he finished the book he decided it was bedtime, as she would be having a long next day. When he got back downstairs half an hour later, Mary Margaret was tidying the kitchen.

"I blame you, you know."

"Excuse me?" The brunette turned to face her partner with a frown.

"It's your fault. She only started being obsessed with reading after you came into our lives…" The frown dropped and was replaced by a smirk.

"She's five. She would have started reading sooner or later, and she is a smart kid, got it from her smart ass dad, so the constant reading is no surprise." David laughed and pulled her into his arms, raising his brow at her.

"She made me read her two books! Lucky she was happy with her old ones, so she can take her time with her new ones, and really enjoy them…" They chatted for a few more minutes before Mary Margaret decided to leave, promising David with a kiss she would be by early the next day to get ready for the party.

* * *

The gardens were decorated. The bouncy castle had been delivered and inflated, with David giving Emma permission to jump on it while they finished preparations. The princess entertainer was due to arrive after the children, and the face painter due around the same time the party started at Mary Margaret had gone home around 9 the next evening, she had stayed up to the early hours of the morning preparing the food for the party, and baking a cake. That was all set up on the patio. In David's garden was where the adults could congregate, with drinks and snacks available. All that was missing was the kids.

Before long, the party was in full swing. Emma had hugged every child as they walked through the door, screeching a thank you to everyone who handed her a gift. Though she was friendly with everyone in her class, she had a small group of friends who she seemed to be closer with, and the first thing she did when they'd arrived was introduce them to David. Mary Margaret had done the rest of the introductions, David to the parents he didn't already know, pointing out their children if he wasn't aware. He knew Jeff, Grace's father, and he knew Michael, the stepfather of the twins Nicholas and Ava and he had previously met Violet's father who had dropped her off on his way to work.

Mary Margaret watched as a group of three boys in her class, Neal, Henry and Leo chased each other across the garden, a game of tag being started almost immediately when they walked in the door. But it was the group of girls that included Emma that she was watching. They'd all had their faces painted, a ladybug, a cat, a butterfly, a zebra, a rainbow and one girl had an array of flowers. Emma simply had a tiara painted across her forehead with red paint on her lips, having chosen the design after seeing the Snow White entertainer that had arrived. They were sat in a circle around her, watching as she tied balloons and entertained the girls. David had just finished talking to the parents when he joined his girlfriend near the picnic table, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Remind me again who is sat with Emma…"

"Ok, the ladybug is called Jane, the cat is called Danica, the butterfly is Amber, the zebra is Ella, the rainbow is Naomi and the explosion of flowers, that's Mia. They're Emma's closest friends." They watched as the princess hugged each girl and they ran off to the bouncy castle. Knowing the small blonde would likely be occupied for the next several minutes, he turned her in his arms, holding her close.

"Thank you for helping me with this. I think she's having a blast. Couldn't have done it without you."

"Mhmm…" She hummed in acknowledgment and stood on her toes to kiss him, revelling in the warmth of him, the sound of children screeching in her back yard filling her with promises of a future of screeching kids of their own. The next words came out of nowhere, and it caused both of them to tense.

"I love you."

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 **/So I stayed up until 2:30am to get this done after a bad weekend at work. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know. /**


	17. Chapter 16

**/So this is very descriptive with very little speech, which I didn't intend, but it just happened. I was going to add in one of the first ideas I had for this story here, but it got too long, so I tried to end this in a way that allows me to move onto that in the next chapter (which will most likely be a lot shorter). I just wanted to get this done so I didn't have to worry about rushing the next chapter. It gets sucky, but I am having a really bad week mental-health-wise and the joy I usually get from writing has been lacking, so we'll see./**

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For the next few weeks after Emma's birthday, the three spent most of their time together. After they'd both blurted out the confession they had been holding onto at the same time, the only time they spent apart was a few nights or when they were both at work. They had taken the next step in their relationship the weekend after the birthday party while Emma had been spending the night with Granny, a once-every-so-often situation that would occur when David couldn't get out of work and Ruby couldn't babysit. The old woman had attended her birthday party and decided for the pair that she would have Emma after school on Friday and return her Saturday, after the lunch rush, and the pair had decided it was time. Since then they spent most evenings together, with her sometimes spending the night if David wasn't working, though not doing anything more heated than 'making out' like teenagers and cuddling.

Emma continued her dance classes, even doing an audition for the Christmas show the dance school was putting on, and Mary Margaret had decided to volunteer for some of the schools extra-curricular programs, helping out with the sports teams try-outs and volunteering with the gardening club and newly formed after school band class when David was able to pick Emma up. However more often than not it was the same as usual, with Mary Margaret taking the little girl home and either cooking for her or joining her and David for dinner. One of the night team had developed an infection after an injury which turned into sepsis and another had been paralysed after a fall from a commercial building and so they day-team were taking turns covering their shifts until the next batch of recruits joined the team from the academy. This meant David was working at least two night shifts a week and Emma was staying at Mary Margaret's, her room having been finished the day after her birthday party.

When November was turning into December, Mary Margaret was spending more time with Emma than David was, and all three of them were feeling it. David hated it, and called Emma as often as he could, apologising to her, but after the past few weeks and the seasonal use of bonfires and fireworks and some unseasonably hot winter weather, it wasn't as often as he'd like. Emma, although happy to be spending time with her favourite teacher, she had never been away from her father for that long and was struggling with not having him around. Mary Margaret was also struggling. With working her own classes and covering those where the staff were off with a sickness bug, as well as constantly taking Emma to dance class and rehearsals for the Christmas show and taking her to the odd doctors or dentist appointment that David could not manage, and then chasing around the rambunctious five year old, making sure she ate and slept enough, she barely had enough time to mark her classwork, let alone get enough sleep at night or go to her physician for her annual physical and check-up.

With all the extra shifts that David had been doing, he accrued some extra holiday, and decided to take it on the first weekend in December. He had asked Mary Margaret to dinner for the Friday after school, but she advised he take Emma to dinner, just the two of them and she would join them on the Saturday.

The brunette struggled on Friday night and Saturday morning, missing the presence of her boyfriend and his daughter, but truthfully, she was happy for the break. She hadn't been truly alone for more than a few hours for at least two weeks and a part of her missed the company. She didn't hear from David for about 18 hours after she dropped Emma home from school, but she was fighting the urge to text him, not wanting to interrupt his time with Emma. She had gone to bed early, too tired to do much else; but her lack of sleep the past few weeks still didn't stop her from waking early. By ten she had eaten a banana, all she could handle eating after her constantly skipping meals and was in the middle of a spring clean of her house. By one she had finished, even having rearranged boxes in the attic and tidied her back yard, and so she decided to watch a movie and take a nap, waking up a little after four. It had been 24 hours since she last saw her favourite people and so she decided to text David to see if they needed anything.

When the clock reached seven and she hadn't received a reply, she decided she had had enough alone time and made her way next door, using her key to the property to enter. The downstairs lights were all off, and Mary Margaret could here faint sound coming from upstairs, so made her way up the stairs, noticing it was coming from David's room. She was surprised to see David asleep in bed, Emma asleep next to him, wearing a thick onesie, wrapped in her favourite blanket. Deciding to leave them in peace, she turned and was making her way down the stairs to go home when a groan made her look back. She reached the bedroom as Emma groaned again and sat up, vomiting over the side of the bed. The little girl began to cry, and Mary Margaret made her way into the room, making her presence known to the little blonde.

She held her arms out, lifting Emma from the bed into a hug, pressing a hand against her forehead to check her temperature, frowning at the heat. "Are you feeling sick sweetheart?"

Emma nodded and leaned her head against the woman's shoulder, wiping the tears from her eyes. Mary Margaret could feel the heat of her fever through her shirt and she balanced her on her hip, unzipping the top half of her onesie, removing her arms so she was wearing the footie half and a vest top. She tried to release the girl to sit on the stool in the corner, but was unable to as Emma clung to her. Instead she moved to David's side of the bed, shaking his shoulder.

"David?" No response. "David, wake up!" He opened his eyes blearily and blinked a few times, clearly surprised to see Mary Margaret in his bedroom. It was then he cringed, having registered the smell in the room.

"Mare… what?"

"Emma got sick, she has a fever. You need to get her in the bath while I clean up in here." He sat up, holding his arms out for Emma, but the five year old made no move to go to him.

"No... Snow…"

He frowned, more in worry for his daughter than annoyance that she was clinging to someone who hadn't raised her, though he had to admit, there had been a flash at first. He stood, placing a hand on her forehead like Mary Margaret did, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he walked past her to grab the cleaning products. Emma clung tightly to her teacher as she carried her into the bathroom, sitting her on her lap on the side of the bath as she began to fill it with lukewarm water.

"Do you want bubbles?" The blonde shook her head, and snuggled closer to the source of her comfort, not wanting to let go even when Mary Margaret finished filling the tub. "Sweetheart you need to get in the tub so we can cool your fever, you don't want to get sick again do you?" She shook her head again, closing her eyes as she stuck her thumb in her mouth, a sign that David had told her previously, she used when she was scared. With a sigh, she lifted the shivering girl off her lap and helped her undress, lowering her into the tub. "Stay right there, I just need to get you some new pyjamas." It was as if she hadn't spoken, as the young girl just stared at the wall, still sucking on her thumb.

She first popped into David's bedroom, who was spraying a carpet cleaner on the spot he had cleaned before spraying an air freshener around the room. "I need some clean pyjamas for her, and then she's gonna go to bed. I think she has the flu, so we're gonna need a bucket by her bed, you need to keep her hydrated and keep her fever down, and make sure she gets lots of rest…" She turned to David, frowning when she saw him swaying on his feet. "David?"

"I don't… feel so good…" Mary Margaret jumped into action as he swayed again, before clasping his hand to his mouth, running out the bedroom and down the stairs. She could hear him vomiting loudly into the downstairs toilet, and she shuddered, quickly collecting some clean pyjamas for the five year old before making her way back into the bathroom. The girl hadn't moved, and was shivering with her knees to her chest. When she checked, the teacher realised the lukewarm water had cooled quickly and the poorly youngster was actually cold. Keeping one eye on the girl, she grabbed a large towel from the heated rail, wrapping it around her when she stood.

In the next ten minutes she'd dressed the little girl and tucked her into bed, checked that David's room was clean and helped him back up the stairs into bed. She found buckets in the pantry and put one in each room, before finding a thermometer and cold and flu in the bathroom cabinet and placing it on the tray of juice and that she had collected from downstairs. She checked on Emma first, left the juice next to a cold glass of water on her bedside table, and sat on the bed next to her, and shook her to wake her so she could take her temperature.

Emma was fussy, and it was clear she was feeling ill when she whined and curled into herself when she was woken. Mary Margaret took her temperature, cringing after a minute when it popped up as 100.8. As part of her teaching requirements, she took a paediatric first aid course and did refreshers every year, so she knew, though high, did not require a trip to the emergency room just yet. She held the cup of water to her level, manoeuvring the straw so the young girl could take a drink. With a kiss on the forehead, she left to go check on David, leaving the door open so she could hear if Emma called for her.

David wasn't sleeping, he was staring at the TV though she could see with one glance that he wasn't watching it. He was wearing shorts, his fire station hoodie and one thick sock and if she wasn't concerned about the father daughter pair, she would have laughed at how ridiculous he looked. She did the same that she had done with the younger blonde and left him some water and juice, handing him the thermometer so he could stick it under his tongue. When it beeped he wordlessly handed it back and she noted a reading of 101 exactly. She sighed, running her fingers through his hair as he watched her with a despondent expression. Mary Margaret's heart broke at the fact her boyfriend and his daughter were so sick and miserable. She went to stand up, doing the same as she had done with Emma and pressing a kiss to his forehead, cringing at the clammy feel of his skin. She left and returned a few minutes later, having collected some wet cloths and checked on Emma again. Half of the cup of water was gone and she was asleep again, so Mary Margaret placed the cloth on her forehead and left her to sleep. David had taken the sweatshirt off and had moved under the duvet and allowed the brunette to place the cloth over his forehead.

"How are you feeling my love?"

"A little nauseous... we both hadn't been feeling great since this morning, and when she said she felt sick, I was feeling a little tired, so we decided to take a nap, but clearly we both just started to feel worse." Mary Margaret nodded again and sat down on the bed next to him, taking his hand.

"Can I get you anything?" He shook his head and held his arms out, smiling warmly when she moved to sit beside him, leaning into his chest. They watched TV snuggled together for a while, David happy that his girlfriend was comfortable looking after them when they were sick, Mary Margaret just happy to be able to spend time with the object of her affection without him having to rush off to work. The silence wasn't uncomfortable the pair just enjoying their time together, despite the fact one of them was sick. It was David that broke the silence.

"Thank you for everything Mare… Obviously I have looked after when she's sick before but I can't stand up without feeling dizzy and she gets super clingy when she's sick and I…" Mary Margaret nodded, as if she understood what he was saying without him having to continue. She was about to reply when the topic of their conversation shouted out.

"Mommy!"

Mary Margaret looked up at David who was frowning, and she sighed, shaking her head as she stood. "It will be easier for me to bring her in here, then I can keep an eye on you both without having to run from room to room…" She was out of the room without another word and walked through the doorway of Emma's room as she called out again, this time weaker and a little hoarse.

"Momma…" Mary Margaret sat down beside the little girl and brushed her hair from her forehead, cringing at the heat. She removed the blankets so she was just lying there in her pyjamas, handing her the neglected glass of juice.

"It's not your mommy sweetheart, it's just me, Snow. You have a mommy remember?" The answering shake tugged at the brunette's heart and she held her arms out for a hug. Emma sat up and blinked at her, before crawling into her lap, resting her head on the brunette's shoulder.

"No… you mommy." She closed her eyes as if to end the conversation shifting until she was comfortable. Mary Margaret's mouth opened and closed while she tried to figure out what to say, deciding to stay quiet. Instead she gathered up the little girl in her lap, trying not to jostle her too much, before carrying her into David's room, laying her where she had been earlier that day. By the time the father and daughter had fallen back to sleep, Mary Margaret was exhausted. She made sure they would have everything they might need for the night before grabbing a spare blanket from the linen closet and making her bed on the downstairs sofa. It felt like she had only been sleeping for half an hour when she was woken suddenly. A glance at her phone showed it was a little after 6am and she huffed as she stood, pulling one of David's sweaters over her head.

When she reached upstairs she found the pair curled up watching a movie with singing Trolls, and she couldn't help but smile. "Good morning my loves, how are you both feeling?" They both turned to look at her at once, and simultaneous, identical tired smiles sprung up on their faces. They didn't respond, and so the brunette walked up to the bed, grabbing the thermometer from the bedside table before handing it to David. She leaned over him as he stuck it in his mouth and pressed the back of her hand to Emma's forehead, noting she still had a fever. When the thermometer beeped, the flashing number showed David did too. She ran downstairs grabbing two cold bottles of water from the fridge and the flu medication before returning, sitting on the other side of Emma while they took it. The rest of the day was spent on the bed, Mary Margaret constantly up and down fetching drinks, cold cloths, checking temperatures and opening and closing the window. She left in the afternoon after the pair decided to take a nap, to do some grocery shopping so they would have everything they needed when she went back to work the next day. David had called in sick for at least the first half of the week, and as Emma's teacher, she was obviously already aware the little firecracker would be missing school.

When she returned she found David was being sick again and Emma, unsure how she was supposed to help, was sat on the stairs in tears. She sent her downstairs to the main room to watch some cartoons as she helped David, who once he had rinsed his mouth and greeted his girlfriend, decided to take a shower, informing her he would meet them downstairs, to watch some tv. They spent the rest of the day downstairs, Mary Margaret preparing soup and crackers, providing ice cream and jelly as a treat for them finishing their respective bowls. That night, Emma slept in her own bed, and Mary Margaret was getting ready for another night on the sofa when David asked her to stay with him, which of course, she couldn't deny.

She hated leaving them to go to work the next day, but, as if she was leaving her kid with a sitter, made David promise to look after her, and himself, texting her constant updates throughout the day. He did what she said, and they spent the evening and night together. Their routine remained much the same until the Friday, when the pair had both determined they were feeling well enough to go back to work and school. Mary Margaret promised to catch Emma up on the school she had missed, which David appreciated as, with the days he had missed from work, was given extra shifts over the next weekend.

By Friday evening, having kissed David and sent him off to work and having set Emma up on the dining room table to work through some worksheets, she settled on the sofa, contemplating how she'd managed to care for two people sick with the flu without catching it herself. Teaching little kids in a germ factory known as school normally meant if one child had a cold, by the end of the day, they all did, teacher included. And with how tired and run down she had been lately, it was an even bigger surprise she wasn't laid up in bed with a hot water bottle and water with lemon and honey. She couldn't deny she was tired though, and had a little bit of a headache, so curled up on the sofa, wearing one of the sweaters she had officially stolen from David, watching his daughter work at the table, as she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

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 **/It was a late Thursday night trying to get this done, and I have so much at uni that it will likely be a while for the next one. Thank you for all your reviews for the previous little AN, I do intend to keep writing as long as you guys keep reading, and so thank you for saying you will./**


	18. Chapter 17

**/** **This is slightly shorter, but it's a big chapter, when I first had the idea for the story, this was a main part of it, so I hope I did it justice. Possible trigger warnings in this and the next chapter. Also the address mentioned is real, I just couldn't remember the address of where I stayed in Santa Monica, and so I did a google./**

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Though he wasn't feeling 100 percent, David had decided when he no longer had a fever on the Thursday that he was ok to return to work on the Friday. Emma had been better since the Wednesday, but decided to stay home with her father while she had the chance. She has almost cried when he went to work on Friday, but after realising she would still be with her neighbour and they would be spending the evening together while David worked and she had cheered up considerably. He was supposed to be working till late, and Emma was going to stay with Mary Margaret, until he picked her up the next morning.

He was exhausted having been drill training and cleaning the rigs all day and expected that Mary Margaret and Emma were keeping each other busy. So he was surprised when he went to his locker to change just in time for his phone to ring. It was Mary Margaret, and, knowing that she would only call in an emergency, he rushed to pick up the call. He was surprised to hear it was his five year old on the line.

"Daddy?"

"Emma? What's wrong baby? Where's Mary Margaret?"

"Snow's sleeping and I poked her and she won't wake up. I don't know what to do daddy, you have to come and help her."

David hesitated, looking around the locker room, seeing Mulan in the corner, picking through a bag of trail mix. "Hold on princess, don't go off the line…" He placed his finger over the speaker and turned back to his colleague.

"Something's going on with Emma and her sitter, I just need to go and sort it out…" Mulan raised her brow, knowing exactly who the sitter was, but her features turned serious when she saw the look on David's face.

"Sure, I'll let the Captain know. Come back quickly, if you can…" David nodded and turned back to the phone.

"I'll be right there Emma, keep an eye on her for me, and if she stops breathing call 911..." He hung up without waiting for a reply, and grabbed his keys, walking quickly out of the room, ignoring Mulan's alarmed call from behind him.

The drive back was quicker than usual due to the time of day, but it did not stop him worrying. He had seen Mary Margaret over the last week, he knew how much she had been doing, how tired she was, but, even with his limited medical knowledge, he knew people were supposed to wake from a sleep when prodded. He parked in Mary Margaret's driveway and was out of the car in seconds, both happy and angry to find the door unlocked.

"Emma?"

"Daddy!" David watched as the little girl came barrelling down the stairs at his call, launching into his arms from the second step.

"Where's Snow?" The little girl pointed up the stairs in the general direction of the bathroom and David heard the faint sound of Mary Margaret being sick. "Oh, she got sick…" He pressed a kiss to Emma's forehead and put her onto the ground. "Go and pack your stuff sweetheart, I'm gonna have to take you to Granny's."

He headed upstairs, knocking on the closed bedroom door. "Mare, can I come in?"

He heard his girlfriend croak a no on the other side of the door, and turned to walk away, wanting to give her some privacy, but then thought back to the past week, when she'd cared for them both without question.

He knocked again. "I'm coming in…" She was rinsing her mouth when he opened the door and she turned to face him, walking into his open arms, before pulling back to look at him with a confused frown.

"Wait, what are you doing here?"

David hesitated, before Emma called up to them.

"Emma called me at work. She was very worried when she couldn't wake you up… I see by the time I got here you were awake but she…"

"I'm so sorry David… I didn't mean to fall asleep, I'm just so tired and I…"

He pulled her tighter and pressed a kiss to the top of her head when she leaned into him. "It's alright my love, don't apologise. You can't help being sick, probably just caught the flu from…" It was his turn to look embarrassed as he remembered his behaviour of the past week. "Anyway, I really wish I could stay and take care of you like you did, but after a week off I really have to get back… I'll drop Emma of at Mel's on the way, I'm sure Granny will look after her."

"No, David, you don't need to do that, I'll look after her, I won't fall asleep again, I swear." The brunette pulled away from her partner, a little hurt that he was doubting her abilities to look after someone she may or may not have come to consider a daughter.

"Mare, don't be silly. You need rest and Emma is challenging at the best of times… You looked after us when we were sick, and if all I can do is make sure you rest and get some peace and quiet that is what I will do." With a sigh she nodded, turning her head away when David tried to kiss her.

"You'd have to at least let me brush my teeth…" She cringed at the memory and stepped back from him. "Ok, take Emma, but I will be fine in a day or two and then I want to look after her again…" David nodded and leaned forward, ignoring her glare, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I love you."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help her grin. "Yeah yeah, I love you too. Now go, I'm going to eat something then go to bed. I feel like I could sleep for a week." She pushed against him, squeezing his arm lightly when he turned to go. She heard him go downstairs and talk to Emma, and the pair left after a few minutes, the young girl calling up the stairs to say goodbye to her teacher. Mary Margaret was about to go to bed when her stomach rolled and she once again ended up praying to the porcelain gods.

Her exhaustion, combined with dehydration and what was almost definitely the flu resulted in the mother of all headaches for the brunette and she decided to make some hot cocoa, take some painkillers and get some sleep. While she was in the bathroom she searched through the medicine cabinet, coming across some strong painkillers that caused drowsiness. She rinsed her mouth and took two, before going downstairs, shutting all the curtains and locking the door.

She had planned on making cocoa with Emma that evening and so had most of the ingredients waiting by the stove, so put the pan on the stove as she grabbed the milk from the fridge. She combined the dry ingredients and the water, turning the hob to heat. She made quick work of measuring out the milk before noticing she had forgotten to get out the cinnamon. By the time she had found it, the mixture in the pan was boiling, something which she did not want so she grabbed the pan from the heat, not realising the handle was so hot.

The well-educated teacher cursed as she dropped the pan, cradling her hand to her chest, jumping backwards as the hot pan fell onto the floor, splashing the scalding liquid up her legs. With another curse she held her hand under the cold tap for a few minutes, finding her headache was getting worse instead of better. She dried her hands quickly, deciding to forget the cocoa and just go to bed, deciding to clean up tomorrow. When the burning pain in her hand had subsided she dried her hands carefully, flinging the dish towel onto the counter. Not even ten minutes later she had changed into her warmest pyjamas, taken a couple more painkillers and was asleep, a bucket next to the bed just in case.

* * *

When David had left Mary Margaret's he'd quickly called Granny to check if she was available, thanking all that was good and holy that she was happy and willing to look after Emma for a while. He spent the journey there trying to work out who he could ask to look after his daughter in the event he, his girlfriend or his ex-babysitters grandmother were unavailable, coming up blank. He made a mental note to ask Mary Margaret about it when she was feeling better.

He made it back to work just over half an hour after he'd left and with a quick apology to his captain he was back to work, cleaning the equipment. Less than another hour later it was starting to wind down with the cleaning and the Captain was considering sending people home when the alarms rang, signalling a new fire. David sighed, wanting nothing more than to pick up his daughter and go take care of his girlfriend. Instead he went onto autopilot, making his way to grab his gear and double check the engine was prepped. The team were boarding the rig ready to go when the information came through, and with Killian and Mulan being the drivers David did not listen to the information of the shout, distracted as he thought of his neighbour, ill and alone at home. Mulan switched the sirens on as they drove, bypassing traffic as it moved out of their way, and David along with his team busied themselves, making sure they were prepared for as soon as they arrived.

"David?"

He was drawn from his thoughts at the call of his name.

"What?"

"Fraser Avenue, isn't that your street?"

David nodded, instantly wide awake and paying attention. His stomach dropped at the sudden intrusion of the thought that something was wrong, shaking his head to clear the thought, realising it could be any house in the half a mile long street, though that was still not a good thought. David could barely formulate words to his thoughts. He was about to ask what house number the fire was at, when they turned into the street, seeing the smoke coming from the house he had been inside not two hours earlier.

It was like he was glued to his seat, staring out the window at the house in shock until he was physically pushed out of the door. There were a few people he recognised standing on the other side of the street, facing the house, neighbours that noticed him when he stepped around the engine to start their job. He pushed back everything, trying to focus on the fact that there was a fire that needed putting out, that for all he knew, Mary Margaret had gone out and her house that was currently on fire was empty. It was then he heard one of the officers inform his team there was at least one person in the property.

It didn't even take a second thought as David jammed his helmet on his head, running towards his girlfriend's house, towards his potentially unconscious girlfriend, stopping in surprise when he found the door locked. He heard the announcement behind him that the property was still relatively structurally stable and so his team were allowed to enter, and Mulan was by his side when he glanced over. The other half of their team had gone around the back of his property and were currently trying to get the fire under control so it was up to Mulan and David to find Mary Margaret and get her to safety. As the rescue team, although they were 100% sure there was no one left in the house, they had to check all the rooms.

The smoke was thick, the walls of the hallway and door of the kitchen almost black with it. He looked to Mulan and tapped his helmet, gesturing to the coms as he tilted his head towards the main room, signalling for her to look downstairs while he went to find Mary Margaret. He knew it wasn't exactly procedure and he would probably be getting into trouble with Captain Gold, but he just didn't care.

It had been approximately six minutes since the truck had pulled up in front of the house, seeing the smoke rise from it and that was six minutes too long of being away from his girlfriend and wanting her safe in his arms. Without another word from his team, or another glance at his friend he started up the stairs, breathing normally through his apparatus, wondering just how long the fire had been burning.

The first room he checked was her bedroom, figuring that that was where she would be. A quick glace around showed she was not asleep in her bed like he expected her to be, and so he turned to leave, deciding to check the bathroom in case she'd got sick again and gone in there. When he found the room empty he began to panic, even going so far as to check the linen closet, cursing to himself for wasting those precious few seconds on a stupid idea.

He could feel the heat rising from below, the smoke clearly at dangerous levels for anyone without the proper apparatus and he needed to find her fast. He decided to call out for her, hoping she was conscious and could hear him.

"Mary Margaret, if you can hear me, yell, it's the Santa Monica Fire Department, tell me where you are so we can find you."

There was no response which David expected, but it felt like a dead weight settled on his heart at the thought of what it might mean. He made his way to the next room along the corridor, the open door making him realise he probably should have checked that room first. He entered Emma's bedroom, looking around, not seeing the brunette anywhere. He was about to turn and leave, when he saw a foot sticking out from under the bed. In seconds he had lifted the bed and half dragged the unconscious woman from under it. He had her down the stairs around the same time Mulan emerged from the dining room. It felt like he had been searching for her for hours, but he had been upstairs not even three minutes, and the pair were out of the smouldering property together.

An ambulance had already been called and had arrived, so David bypassed the team and climbed in to the back, refusing to put her down until they were safely in the ambulance. He watched in silence as the EMT's worked on his partner. He wasn't paying attention to the vitals he was calling out, instead staring at Mary Margaret's face, the oxygen mask over her face. When they arrived at the emergency room, she was ushered in, taken to a room where she could be assessed properly. David was taken to the cubicles where a nurse quickly gave him the all clear, and he spent the next half hour pacing, waiting to hear from someone who could tell him how Mary Margaret was doing. When he was eventually let in to see her he found her still sleeping, so sat beside her, holding her hand in his, waiting for her to open her eyes.

He was waiting a while. He had called Granny to check on Emma, called his team to check on the status of the fire and watched a movie on his phone, all without letting go of her hand. When she finally opened her eyes, the weight that had been slowly suffocating him lifted, and he felt able to breathe again, cringing inwardly at the way his mind worked.

When Mary Margaret looked up at her partner, memories of the previous few hours came rushing back, and despite feeling like it was her throat that was on fire, literally, she decided to just start apologising, and hoping he didn't yell.

"I'm sorry David, I'm so sorry, I tried to get to her but I couldn't breathe and I just…" She sounded hoarse and was cringing in obvious pain. David wanted to stop her talking, he knew just how much it hurt to have smoke inhalation burns. He shushed her quietly, brushing her hair back from her forehead, looking around for tissues or the like to , seeing none. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, taking the hand she had pulled from his grip when she woke, pressing another kiss to her knuckles.

"Sshh my love, there is really no reason to be sorry. It's me who should be, I'm sorry I wasn't there to take care of you, if I was there I could have prevented this." Mary Margaret looked shocked, removing her hand from David's once again.

"Wait, you can't be serious… I…" David went to interrupt but she glared at him until he shut his mouth. "Wait… she didn't… Is that why you're here with me instead of her. How can you even stand to be near me?" She began to cry again, the sobs causing agony, though a voice in her head was taunting her, that she deserved the pain. The thought of that, and picturing the little five year old in her head caused her to sob harder.

"Mary Margaret, stop! Calm down, what are you talking about? You're not supposed to be talking right now!" He paused, running his hand through his hair. He hadn't yet heard from the doctor but he could hear how much pain she was in just by talking. "My girlfriend is in the hospital, I wouldn't be anywhere else…"

"But… I don't know how you can stand to be near me… Emma…?

"Is fine at Granny's. I didn't think it would be wise to bring her in, worrying her or risking infection with her five year old germs."

That caused the brunette to pause and consider. She was clearly still confused and struggling to process events clearly.

"I thought…" the stress and clear misunderstanding of the situation caused her to begin crying again. "I woke up and there was smoke and I couldn't breathe. I felt so nauseous and my head was pounding but I knew I had to get to her, get her out before she inhaled the smoke and…" She hiccupped through a sob, whimpering at the pain in her chest and throat. "I went to her room and she wasn't there so I thought she'd gone downstairs to watch TV but…" She turned away from David, sure that once he knew the whole story he would end their relationship, leave her for allowing his one true love to perish in a fire she caused. "I just couldn't breathe! I was choking and dizzy and I just couldn't walk down the stairs without falling I was just… so tired. I just had to lie down… I'm sorry."

David shook his head, his own exhaustion beginning to muddle his thoughts.

"Mary Margaret, I took Emma to Granny's when I came to see you, when you were sick. Do you not remember that?" Mary Margaret shook her head, taking in a deep, painful breath.

"So she wasn't in the house? I didn't…" He couldn't hold it anymore. Trying to be careful of the IV in her other arm, and the cannula in her nose he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

"Emma is fine. The fact that even when you're sick, Emma is your priority and you go to her first…" Mary Margaret frowned at that, the next line slipping out before she could stop it.

"Don't be silly, it's what any mother would do…"

* * *

 **/Ok so I obviously don't know how fire officers actually work and I don't have the time to watch or read anything to find out, so it is more for dramatic effect than anything else, much like the next chapter(s), so just be aware of that if it is all wrong./**


	19. Chapter 18

**/Sorry guys I didn't realise deleting the A/N would affect the ability to review (you know how much I love reviews) :') thank you to those who still found a way to review, you each made me smile so much, and cheered up what was a horrendous weekend for me. I love you all! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

 **PS. Trigger warning for this chapter. I did some research, but obviously had to twist the timings and medical facts to fit the story. Tried to handle delicately as possible though. /**

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"Wait." She backtracked quickly. "I know I'm not her mother, but I look after her and I love her and…" David cut her off with a kiss, hoping to convey everything he was feeling.

"I know exactly what you meant Mare… and you're right…" Mary Margaret turned her head to face him, having expected a different response. "You're more of a mother to that little girl than her own one was. I do not begrudge you that fact. I'm sure Emma feels the same, and as soon as you're not at risk from infection I'm gonna bring her in to see you." Mary Margaret smiled at that before it dropped.

"Wait, how long am I going to be in here? I'm not staying, I have classes on Monday, and I have to spend tomorrow sorting out my house. As soon as the doctor comes, I'm out of here. You're lucky I'm here as it is." She glanced at the door before looking back to David, blinking back the tears that had formed in her eyes. "I've not been in a hospital since my sister…" All David could do was squeeze his girlfriend tighter, so that is exactly what he did.

"Mare, you had pretty bad smoke inhalation, you need to get that treated first, but I promise you, as soon as the doctor says you're fit to leave, we'll go home. I'll be here as much as I can be, and when I'm not I'll be making a start on getting your house sorted. You don't have to worry about a thing."

The pair remained together, David perched on the bed next to his partner as she curled up against his chest. She started to doze, the headache from earlier still present, but she was comforted at least in the fact that David was by her side and was going to stay there. David turned on the TV, bolted to the wall at the other side of the room and played the news on mute, rubbing Mary Margaret's back as he held her close.

With his tiredness from recovering from flu, a long day at work, and a long evening at the hospital, his worry over his girlfriend, and being comfortable on a bed caused David to start falling asleep next to her, but he was quickly woken by a pained cough from next to him, which turned into laboured breathing. He was out of the bed in a second and grabbed the oxygen mask from the wall behind the bed, placing it over her face, before pressing the nurse's button for attention.

He stood back and watched as two nurses came in, checking the monitors that were attached to her, before turning the oxygen up. "Miss Blanchard, you need to take some breaths, deep as you can. It will hurt but we need to increase your oxygen levels. The doctor will be in to see you shortly, but I think we'll need to be keeping you in for a few days until the risk of infection decreases." Mary Margaret held the mask to her face, taking a deep, pained breath in as she nodded. David waited until the nurses had moved away before he sat back in his spot, wrapping one arm around Mary Margaret's shoulders, linking the fingers of their other hand, the mask now attached by elastic. He rubbed circles onto her shoulder in time with her breathing and squeezed her hand every time she winced in pain.

They sat together for about ten more minutes, in silence, the news still playing on mute before the doctor entered. David sat up, moving off the bed to the other side where he stood, taking her hand again, and watching Mary Margaret as she watched the doctor.

"Good evening Miss Blanchard. I'm sorry for the delay in getting around to you, there was a mix up in the lab earlier and we had to double check everything. We've took your bloods to look at your blood gases and the levels of carboxyhaemoglobin and I have to admit they are a little higher than we would like so we're going to keep you in on the oxygen, also, your HCG levels are significantly elevated so I'd like to do a scan to confirm your pregnancy and see how many weeks gestation you are." David's jaw dropped as he watched Mary Margaret's do the same.

"Excuse me, I'm not pregnant…" The doctor glanced down at the file in his hands and frowned.

"I'm sorry if that was inappropriate Miss Blanchard but your blood says otherwise." David didn't know what to think as he saw a range of emotions cross his girlfriend's face, and when she glanced up at him, the look in her eyes displaying worry, he squeezed her hand before dropping it.

"You just said there was a mix-up in the lab. You should double check before giving people incorrect life changing information." The doctor looked between the couple before nodding.

"I'll have a nurse come in to retake some bloods and we'll run the test again. Try and stay calm Miss Blanchard, we'll get this straightened out." The doctor left quickly, David facing the door that had closed behind him. The room was silent. Mary Margaret was watching her boyfriend trying not to look at her, and cringed at the unexplained feeling of guilt in her gut.

"David?" She watched him tense before he turned around to face her, his features blank of all emotion. "I'm not… I didn't…" The desolate tone of her voice caused the blonde to snap out of whatever was going through his head, and he moved back over to his neighbour, taking her hand from where it lay on her lap. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, still not making eye contact.

"I love you Mare. I just gotta go check on Emma, but I'll be back later."

"David… please wait…" The tension of the situation was beginning to affect her breathing, and she held the mask to her face with a cringe.

He left the room without another word or a look back, leaving Mary Margaret struggling for breath in the bed behind him.

* * *

It was the next morning when Mary Margaret realised David had returned. She had sat watching the door for over an hour, waiting for either a nurse to come and take her blood or for her boyfriend to return. When neither happened she decided to go to sleep, and with the pain medication and exhaustion, it was quick.

David hadn't gone to check on Emma. He'd gone outside to call her before stopping at the cafeteria to find something to eat, having consumed less than 1000 calories so far that day. Seeing it was closed he'd left the hospital and found a diner, ordering a strong coffee with his omelette, managing to get through to his little girl half an hour past her bedtime. They'd talked briefly, David staying positive and saying the blonde was going to have a sleepover with Granny and spend the next day with her, and he would see her soon. He'd then realised he would much rather be with his girlfriend in hospital than pouting at a 24 hour diner around the corner and so made his way back.

She was asleep when he got back, so he pressed a kiss to her forehead, tucked the blanket up to her chest and used his jacket as a pillow to curl up on the chair. He wasn't able to sleep and so was still awake when the nurse came in to check on the brunette, apologising that someone hadn't been in sooner. He asked them to come back in the morning to take her blood as she was too tired to be woken at the moment and he fell asleep watching the rise and fall of her chest.

By the time the brunette woke, David had woken, gone to collect breakfast from the cafeteria and was typing furiously on his phone.

"David?"

The man in question turned from where he was stood, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw her with a little colour back in her cheeks. "Good morning my love. How are you feeling?" He placed his phone in his pocket, walking over to the bed as he embraced his girlfriend.

"My throat hurts a little. I just want to get out of here David, when can I go home?"

"The nurse still needs to take your blood and we need the lab to test it to see what's going on with you. But I'm sure it won't be too much longer." As if the nurse could hear him the door opened and she walked in, carrying the tray. The procedure was quick and David stood on the other side of the teacher, rubbing circles on her hand with his thumb. He knew just how much she hated the idea of needles, or even anything sharp piercing her skin.

The nurse left after a few minutes and David watched her eat the still-warm oatmeal he'd got from downstairs before helping her stand to go to the bathroom. When she left the bathroom she was glaring at him, holding onto her stomach. "Well if you didn't believe me when I said I wasn't pregnant, maybe the cramps and the blood will convince you." David cringed with a shake of his head, helping her back to the bed. The pair spent the number of hours watching TV, playing cards, calling Emma and eating snacks. David had gone back to her house, surveyed the damage and picked her up a few things and when he returned, the doctor came in again and changed her medication. They talked about the fire, what had happened and the damage had been caused.

Despite his reaction, the warmth during the fleeting moment when he'd thought Mary Margaret had been pregnant was at the forefront of his mind as he had surveyed the property. The downstairs was obviously more affected than the upstairs, with parts of the kitchen almost damaged beyond repair but a few weeks of redecorating wouldn't fix. However, although he knew it was way too soon, part of him wished that the fire could be used as an excuse to get the teacher to move in with them. He contemplated asking her, but with everything she was going through, he didn't want to scare her away.

It was late afternoon after a long and boring day when the doctor finally returned with her blood results. David was sat on the bed, legs crossed, and his knees touching Mary Margaret's as she sat in the same position, playing a quick round of snap. Mary Margaret laughed as she put her hand on top of his, calling snap at the same time he did, trying to take the cards from his hands as he picked them up. She was giggling as David leaned forward and kissed her soundly, only then noticing the doctor standing there, watching them, a troubled look on his face.

"Miss Blanchard, I'm sorry to interrupt but I would like to talk to you about your blood test results." Mary Margaret frowned at the look on his face and the tone of his voice and dropped the cards in her hand, searching for David's hand while still looking at the doctor. David gripped her hand tightly, facing them as a nurse walked in behind the doctor, pushing a machine on a trolley. "Now your bloods still show raised hcg levels, but they are lower than they were 24 hours ago, so we need to do a few tests to see what's going on." David looked confused at the look on the doctor's face.

"What does that mean?"

He ignored the question from the blonde, talking directly to the brunette. "We'd like to do an ultrasound if you agree Miss Blanchard?"

The brunette in question looked bewildered as she began to piece everything together in her head. "But I… I got my… I'm menstruating doctor…" That comment caused the doctor's frown to deepen and he gestured to the nurse to join him next to the bed.

"I'm sorry Miss Blanchard, we really need to do this scan. Please lie down. Mr Nolan, if you could…" David climbed off the bed without releasing her hand and stood next to the teachers head as she stretched out and lifted the gown out of the way, happy at least that David had picked up her sweats which she was wearing. She winced at the coolness of the gel that was squirted on her stomach glancing up at David. He was watching the screen but Mary Margaret, knowing she didn't want confirmation of what she assumed was going on, just continued to look at her boyfriend. David looked between the screen, Mary Margaret's face and the nurse's face as the nurse performed the ultrasound, pressing a button to screenshot every so often. Nether the doctor nor the nurse spoke as she finished the scan, handing Mary Margaret tissue to wipe the gel from her stomach.

"Miss Blanchard, this spot here on the ultrasound is a gestational sac… this suggests you are, or have recently been pregnant." He paused, wanting to allow the couple to absorb the news before continuing. "Now, along with your recent test results and the bleeding you informed the nurse you were having, we believe you may be having an early miscarriage." Again he paused, his face stoic as he appraised the pair, both looking confused. "We would like to perform a trans-vaginal ultrasound to confirm, as we believe at this stage, it will provide clearer information."

Mary Margaret blinked and shook her head, trying to make sense of what she was being told. David had tightened his grip on her hand until it was almost painful.

"You mean… I was pregnant, but I'm not anymore?" David looked down at his partner as she spoke, as she watched the doctor tilt his head slightly.

"That is what we would like to confirm with further tests. Do you consent to us running further tests Miss Blanchard?" The brunette nodded minutely, leaning back with a sigh. David leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her temple as the doctor made a note in her charts. Neither of them said anything, as neither of them knew what to say.

* * *

It was two days later that Mary Margaret had been allowed to leave the hospital. After more tests had been done and they had been told Mary Margaret had miscarried after 5 weeks, the brunette told David it was probably best he went to pick up Emma and took her home. He tried to compromise that he could pick Emma up and bring her to visit, which ended in Mary Margaret telling him she just wanted to be alone.

He'd taken the five year old in the day after, during visiting hours, hoping that she would be able to cheer up her favourite teacher, but the brunette merely hugged her tight, reading books together until visiting hours were over.

When David picked her up the next day, she was quiet in the car, speaking only when David pulled up outside her house. "Can I…? Do you mind if I spend the night with you and Emma? I don't think I can be in my house right now…" David merely nodded, restarting the car before seconds later pulling onto his driveway.

"Sure sweetheart. I'm sure Emma will love that."

He had been right. The little blonde had been excited when she heard her Snow was staying over, at least for the night. She was hesitant in her actions though, and stood in front of Mary Margaret as she stood in the doorway, waiting to be invited to hug her. Mary Margaret could tell that David had had a word with the little girl, telling her to calm down a little.

Mary Margaret had called in sick for the rest of the week, and planned to spend the rest of that day watching Disney movies with the little girl, David having decided to keep her off school too, knowing anything she missed would be easily caught up.

David made tomato soup for lunch. Emma dipped her grilled cheese in Mary Margaret's bowl when she pushed it away. Emma drew her a picture. David hung it on the fridge after she barely looked at it. The pair tried to get her to talk, them reading a book together when she failed to respond. She didn't really move from her spot on the sofa until that evening when David ran her a bath and she collected the clean sweats David had collected from her house, taking them to the bathroom with her. When she pulled back the shower curtain that surrounded the bath she noticed her robe on the hook, another item that had been collected, and when she shrugged it on she found it was warm.

It was the straw that broke the camel's back, the fact that David had thought to heat her gown and leave it for her, and after wrapping her hair she made her way downstairs to where Emma was asleep on her beanbag chair and David was tidying up. She stood in the doorway, holding her gown tightly across her chest, until he turned and noticed her. When he did, she spoke, her voice wavering.

"I love you… I'm so sorry…" Within moments she was wrapped in his arms, and she began to cry against his chest, the first time since she had heard the news. She was content to just be wrapped up in him, allowing herself to let it out, safe in the knowledge that the five year old was dead to the world and would not be waking. David didn't say anything, he led her to the sofa where he sat, allowing his girlfriend to curl up on his lap as she cried. The only sound in the room for the next few minutes was her sobs, slowly turning to sniffles.

Eventually she spoke.

"I shouldn't be sad that I lost a child I never knew I had David, but I can't help it. We've been together for a few months, a baby would be totally inappropriate now, I know that… so why do I feel so empty, like a part of me is missing?"

* * *

 **/So I am sorry if this was a trigger for anyone. I hope I handled it well. Please let me know what you thought. /**


	20. Chapter 19

**/First of all, thank you for the reviews to the last chapter, I finally hit 100! It seems people are not all that happy with David! In response to the guest reviewer's question, no David did not think MM had cheated on him. They had been intimate, but David was just surprised. The way MM reacted was that she thought David would think she had planned it, to trap him etc. I don't really know why David reacted the way he did, it just happened that way when I wrote it. But he wasn't deliberately being a jerk, I'll blame Kathryn and how she screwed him over./**

 **/I tried to post this yesterday (17/03) but ffn seemed to be down all day. Sad thing is, the first thing I did when I woke up today was check if it was working, and then post this. I don't know why I was so excited to get it posted but I was apparently./**

* * *

Mary Margaret ended up staying with David for a lot longer than that first night. Every day she would send David back to her house, or she would go herself, and she would pick up a few things that she would need for the next day or so. They found their way into David's drawers and closet after they had been laundered, and she noticed every time she went to put something new away, room had been made.

At first it was mostly clothes and toiletries. Before long she started moving other items, until about ten days after she'd returned from the hospital and she'd unofficially moved in. David had been noticing all the items suddenly living at his house, a few photos of his girlfriends were put up, her plastic boxes full of school supplies tucked in the corner of the cupboard under the stairs. The picture that lived in Mary Margaret's bedroom of Regina, Robin and Roland joined the mantle alongside the picture of David, James and their mother.

It had only taken a few days of the group living in close quarters for them to get used to it. After a week of sleeping next to David, making breakfast for her boyfriend and his daughter, and tucking that little girl in at night, Mary Margaret was less and less willing to go back home, to spending a lot of her time alone. She realised after a few days of near constant tears or sadness that she probably needed to speak to someone, so she made and attended an initial appointment with a counsellor and had plans to go back after the Christmas period.

David had assumed that his girlfriend would be spending Christmas with them before the fire, and was surer of it when she unofficially moved in. At one point he planned to make it official, but after everything that had gone on recently, he did not want to do anything that would scare her away, not when she was still so vulnerable, and so when Emma asked David if 'her Snow' would be spending Christmas with them, he'd said 'maybe' and left it at that.

The rest of the week after she came back from the hospital Mary Margaret had not gone into work, she had spent almost all of her time with either David, Emma or both of them. The next week, was the last week of school before the holiday's and Mary Margaret had not attended the first two days, deciding she would go for the last couple of days before the break. Early in the week, Mary Margaret had spent time with Emma, when David could no longer put off going back to work, and had taken her shopping. She had already finished her Christmas shopping for David and Emma around the time she was buying the birthday presents, but she wanted to get something little for each of her students, knowing at least three of them would not be waking up to many, if any presents on Christmas Day. She had found a great selection of colouring books, stationary sets and colouring items online and decided to purchase a selection and wrap them, for the children to take home.

Emma had been a little more subdued than usual. The teacher knew that David had warned the little girl to be careful with the woman and to calm down a bit, but it was like the five year old could sense that 'her Snow' was not in the same happy mood she usually was, having seen her burst into tears at least twice in the past week before quickly excusing herself. However when they reached the store where Mary Margaret was planning to shop and they saw Santa was there, Emma couldn't help but squeal in excitement. The brunette informed her that if she was good while they were shopping she might be able to go and see Santa, and made sure to text David to ask if he would mind if she took Emma to see Santa while they were out. The reply came through quickly, and it was a concise ' _of course not_ ' with a smiley emoji at the end.

She knew that Emma would behave regardless of the bribe to see Santa and she even helped Mary Margaret pick out gifts for the class, even asking if she could borrow some money to get a gift for the librarian who had started helping out in class while Mary Margaret was off. She had come home from school on Monday announcing that her 'second favouritest teacher' at school was Miss Belle, and that she wanted to give her a Christmas card.

After the gift shopping, with Mary Margaret managing to put a few more things in her cart for the littlest blonde, they moved onto groceries and Emma behaved for the 20 minutes where they were picking out vegetables and snacks to fill the fridge. Mary Margaret made a note to talk to David about her starting to pay some of the bills, before rethinking that idea, not wanting David to think she assumed she was now living with them and that she needed to start helping out with the bills. The closer they got to the checkout, the more Emma began to act excited, eventually skipping alongside Mary Margaret as she held her hand, pushing the cart with the other. Mary Margaret was grateful that she was still at the age where she believed in Santa and she was still so carefree despite all the things that had happened in her young life.

They joined the short queue, a young woman dressed as an elf, handing out candy canes to each child when their parent allowed it. Most did. Mary Margaret only had to look at the excited face of the little girl and she knew she would allow anything to make her happy. When the woman with the plastic ears stopped in front of them, Emma was bouncing on her toes, excited. The elf, with the name badge Jovie, leant forward to talk to Emma, noticing she seemed more enthusiastic than most to be there.

"Hi there cutie, what's your name?"

"Emma!"

"Hi Emma, do you want a candy cane?" She nodded, holding her hand out at the proffered peppermint flavoured candy. "Does your mommy want one?"

"She's not my mommy, she's my daddy's girlfriend." It was said matter-of-factly and it was the truth, but it still hurt Mary Margaret to hear it being said out loud. She sighed, it now obvious that the girl really had been delirious with a fever the last time she had called her that. She tried to look cheerful for her favourite little girl but it was clear she failed to do so when Emma's grin dropped and she stood quietly in the queue, holding onto the brunette's hand. The queue moved relatively quickly, Jovie having given a candy cane to most of the children before moving back to the front of the line. Mary Margaret stared straight ahead, lost in her own thoughts, keeping Emma close as they walked forward whenever they moved. She didn't notice the little girl watching her, clearly getting upset about her friend.

Finally it was their turn, and Emma, still eager to see Santa, skipped through the tent opening, not waiting for her guardian. Mary Margaret followed her quickly, and stood off to the side as Emma climbed onto Santa's lap.

"Well hello there little one, what's your name?" Emma giggled, the man speaking in a deep voice enough to make her forget her worries.

"I'm Emma and that is Snow." She pointed to the other woman who nodded her greeting when he glanced up at her.

"It's lovely to meet you Emma, and Snow, too…" It was obvious that he wanted to ask about the name and that he was going to get no explanation from either of them. "What do you want for Christmas little one?"

The five year old looked from Santa to Mary Margaret before looking down at her lap, trying to work out what she wanted to ask for. Mary Margaret was interested in hearing what she had to say so she knew if she needed to pick up anything else but she was not prepared for what was said.

"I want my Snow to be happy again." The brunette suddenly felt a lump in her throat and she took a deep breath as she tried not to cry.

"Well that's really kind of you Emma…" She climbed off his lap and walked to Snow, taking her hand as she dragged her closer to the man dressed as Santa.

"Snow is my teacher and my neighbour and my daddy's girlfriend and she looks after me and I love her and you can give all my presents away if you just make her smile again. I miss her happy." She was unable to stop the tears then, and wiped them away briskly, holding tightly onto the girl's hand. The man one again looked up at the older woman and gave her a sympathetic smile, which she returned, but it was forced.

"Wow Emma, that's so kind! I'm sure having a little girl as special as you in her life will make her happy. You just have to stay the same polite, wonderful little girl I can see you are and she will smile again, I promise…" Emma nodded, not wanting to release Mary Margaret's hand.

"I will, I promise."

"Do you want to pick a present from the bag here before you go?" Emma looked up thoughtfully, before beaming, the smile on her face similar to David's smug grin.

"Can I pick two?" The brunette's eyes widened as she looked down at the cheeky little monkey.

"Emma! Don't be rude!" Emma frowned as if she had no idea how that could possibly be rude.

"But Snow, I don't think Nicholas and Ava will share, they're mean sometimes." Both the adults looked confused, Santa more rightfully so. The little blonde rolled her eyes as if the grownups were being deliberately dense. "Cos they move so much and if Santa doesn't know where they live now then they won't get presents so I want them to at least have one each from Santa."

It was often that Mary Margaret simply didn't think she could love that little girl more, but once again she was proved wrong. She knelt, wrapping her arms around the girl, smiling the first genuine smile she had since the hospital. She could have sworn she saw Santa wipe a tear from his eye, but when she looked up at him it was gone. He was watching them with a small smile on his lips, and nodded his consent.

"Ok then princess, now pick the gifts and we should go, give the next child a turn. She picked quickly, just taking the top two wrapped gifts instead of rummaging around, and they walked out the tent, with Mary Margaret adding the gifts to their packed bags. Once again, she took the tiny hand in hers. "That was a very lovely thing you did princess, you really are very kind."

* * *

They got home quickly, Emma unpacking the groceries while Mary Margaret went upstairs with the presents, hiding the ones she had bought for Emma. They made dinner together and were ready to eat by the time David came home from work. Emma was there the moment he walked through the door and he hugged her tightly, glancing around looking for his girlfriend. David carried Emma through to the kitchen when she told him they'd made dinner and found Mary Margaret waiting on her seat. She stood as he entered and wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her head back to accept the kiss he offered.

"Good afternoon my love, how was work?" David was pleasantly surprised at the welcome from both his girls and grinned as he noticed dinner on the table, alongside a pitcher of an orange liquid which David could not identify. He sat down in his usual seat alongside Emma as Mary Margaret placed individual twice baked potatoes in front of them, David's with chilli and Emma's with sour cream, chives, cheese, and bacon bits. She poured them both a glass of ginger lemonade and sat down with her own dinner, with shrimp, cottage cheese and dill.

"Work was fine. Had an interesting talk with Mulan today, but we will need to discuss that when little miss has gone to bed. He gestured to Emma with a tilt of his head and Mary Margaret nodded, looking to the girl who was too busy mashing the inside of her potato.

"So Emma… I heard you saw Santa today… how was it?" Emma looked up excitedly, a dab of sour cream on her nose. She began to explain their afternoon in great detail, from the shopping to the candy cane from Jovie to the conversation she had had with Santa, beginning with the part about getting presents for Ava and Nicholas. After she had finished telling him that she thought she had picked a small fluffy teddy and some marbles due to how they felt under the paper, she went back to her potato, not realising that she had not finished her story. David, looking between his girlfriend and daughter, held back a laugh at the similarities between them. Mary Margaret was eating quietly, not really observing the scene before her. Emma was watching her, copying her actions as she picked at the potato skin, pinching it with one hand as she scraped the potato away with her fork. They raised their cutlery at the same time, a small bit of potato and a generous helping of toppings on each of their forks. With a quiet chuckle, he pushed his plate away, wanting to finish the story with Emma.

"Did you tell Santa what you wanted for Christmas?" He had gone all out for Christmas, he knew Mary Margaret had gone over the top with her gift buying too, but he wanted to make sure he hadn't missed anything, wanting to spoil his little girl now he knew she understood more about Christmas. Mary Margaret glanced up at this, wanting to know what the little girl would say. Emma put her cutlery down, looking back at David and told him what she had told the man, that what she wanted for Christmas was for her teacher to be happy and smile again. The look of love that Mary Margaret was looking at Emma with was reflected in David's eyes and he leaned forward in his seat, taking her hand.

"You are the sweetest, kindest, prettiest little princess I know, and I am so proud to be your daddy." Emma just nodded, as if yet again, she didn't understand the significance of her actions.

"Wait… does that mean I won't get any presents from Santa this year?!" The little girl sounded so shocked and horrified at the idea that Mary Margaret could not help but laugh, a full, genuine belly laugh that lit up her face. David turned his gaze to her, the adoration she had directed at Emma now being directed at her. Emma quickly forgot her horror and was beaming widely. Both the Nolan's were so happy to hear her laugh and Mary Margaret had to admit it felt cathartic. It had been less than two weeks since the 'incident' and Mary Margaret felt like she'd been miserable forever. It felt like it had been a long time since she felt so light, so at ease, and it was down to the little girl who was grinning at her. Mary Margaret could not deny in that moment, that right there, with those people, was exactly where she was meant to be.

* * *

 **/So I didn't really plan this to happen. I got inspired on the train and then this happened. The ending I originally wrote changed and I ended this here because I didn't really know where to go. Also, I know, Christmas in March, but apparently that's what happens at the end of the year and I figured I couldn't really skip it. I think the next chapter will be the rest of Christmas then it will move on./**

 **/I started writing the next chapter when I finished this chapter at the beginning of this past week but didn't get all that far. I have been excited to post this and have wanted to since Tuesday, but decided to wait till today. However I have been at work for two hours from time of posting and I am not having the best morning, my thoughts are all over the place and I can't focus, and if this continues, it might be a while until I post again./**


	21. Not a chapter, don't hate me

**Hi guys!**

 **First of all, I'm sorry this is not an update, don't hate me!**

 **I have been so crazy with school and essays and working and illness and real life I guess but I just wanted you to know that I have not abandoned it.**

 **I have final submission for this semester on the 23rd May though I hopefully will finish before then. However I do have a three month long final semester in which I am supposed to be writing my dissertation. My point? I aim to at least finish the chapter I started writing the week before my last posting (March 18th? I'm sorry, I didn't realise it had been so long!) and post it when I am able.**

 **I also intend to finish the second half of season 6 and watch season 7 of OUAT as I have not yet, though I suppose its something I can take time doing, as we are not waiting for a season 8.**

 **Anyway, thank you for sticking with me, if you have and I hope to have the next chapter posted within a couple of weeks.**

 **Love you guys! xD**

 **P.S. I know I have used them before, but I am not actually a fan of authors notes. However I will not be deleting this one as it messes with the stats, so sorry about that.**


	22. Chapter 20

**HEY. I'M ALIVE. It was only the last 500 words or so that I have written today, the rest of the chapter I had already written. I'm sorry it's (a lot) shorter than usual but I just wanted to get something up. I am going to try and post another chapter relatively soon but who knows if that will happen. This chapter turned out in a way I didn't expect and I honestly don't know where I'm going from here, but I will try and make it happen. Thanks for sticking with me guys ily!**

* * *

"Move in with us."

"What?" Mary Margaret closed the book in her lap and looked up at David who had just walked into the room after putting Emma to bed. "Are you joking?" She shook her head and scoffed as she picked her book back up again. The evening had been pleasant after dinner and they'd played monopoly before reading a story. David had given Emma her bath and tucked her in while Mary Margaret had got ready for bed, choosing to read some of her book before David joined her. She had been enthralled in the story of a couple whose daughter had been kidnapped when David had entered, but was more shocked by his question.

"Of course I'm not joking. We both love having you here… It's not just that it would be easier for us with looking after Emma, I love you, Emma adores you, and this feels like the right step for us…" He paused, his face solemn. "I know you've been through a lot lately, and it's not been easy, but we could be really happy here together." He sat next to Mary Margaret as he took his socks off.

"I'm not saying you have to sell your house or anything like that but I cannot stand the thought of not seeing that smile, of not hearing that laugh every day…" Mary Margaret had been taking in everything he'd been saying, and was working out in her head the reasons she might possibly say no to him. It took one look at his face to see how genuine he was, and how much he seemed to want it. Like he couldn't wait for a response anymore, he took her hand. "What do you say? Move in? We'll be one step closer to being a real family…"

Mary Margaret tilted her head, appraising him carefully. She knew he was being serious, but she felt she had to weigh up before she made her decision David watched her silently, unable to tell what she was thinking. "We ask Emma tomorrow. If she agrees then I will. If not, I'm gonna go back home. I think it's time." David was smiling at the beginning of the sentence, thinking it was a yes, but it had dropped by the end of the sentence.

"If you would rather be next door then I support that, our relationship is strong whether you live in this house or next door, but I think you know that Emma will love the idea of you living here, and will agree in an instant…" The brunette was trying to hide her smile but failed, showing David she knew what he was saying was true, and she was happy about it. He moved closer next to her on the bed and laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist as she giggled, curling up next to him.

"If you'd have told me six months ago I'd be in a job I adore, in love with a wonderful man, and about to move in with him and his beautiful daughter…" She didn't need to finish the statement, David knew what she meant and he responded with a kiss, putting all his emotion behind it. David had been hesitant to initiate anything more than some chaste kisses for the last number of days, not sure she was ready to go further, so he was surprised when she kissed him, lifting his shirt over his head, ignoring his questioning glance as she pulled him closer, the pair soon lost in each other.

* * *

"So you said that you had a chat with Mulan today? Sounded important. What's going on?" It was late, but neither of the pair could sleep, they were laying together, Mary Margaret with her head on David's chest, her arm wrapped around his waist, as he ran his hand up and down her back. For the first time in a long time, Mary Margaret was relaxed, both comfortable in each other's arms. The petite brunette looked up at the blonde and hummed contentedly when he started running his fingers through her hair.

"Well, as you know, Mulan and Rory have been dating a while. In fact a couple of weeks ago, Mulan proposed…" Mary Margaret smiled reservedly. She hadn't met the couple together, only Mulan a few times when she was at the station with David or when she dropped by, but she had seen when they did talk about their families, just how much she loved her girlfriend.

"That's amazing, oh I'm so happy for them!"

"Well that's not even the best part, they have been accepted as foster parents for a little boy, I think Mulan said they foster him for 6 months and then they have the option to adopt him." The thought alone, that another child would have a family made her happy, and she sat up, already planning in her mind the perfect 'welcome home' gift she could get him.

"We should invite them all over for dinner! I could cook? When is the kid coming? How old is he? What is his name? Does he have any allergies? Do they? Why have we not heard about this before now, they must have been planning this for ages…" David couldn't help but chuckle at the over excited nature of the questions, and Mary Margaret pouted as his chest moved, disrupting her comfortable position.

"Well that's the thing Mare, he'll be joining your class after the Christmas break, and Mulan was hoping we, but more specifically you, would join them for dinner once the kid has got used to them so he can meet his teacher. They just want to make his transition as smooth as possible." Mary Margaret was happy, she had spoken to Mulan a few weeks earlier when she had called looking for David and they had discussed Emma and their future plans. Mulan had never mentioned that she was in the process of getting a child, obviously, but she had stated that she and Rory wanted children some time and Mary Margaret had happily shared her views. She had already begun planning a dinner for the new family for after Christmas before school started up again.

They chatted a little more until Mary Margaret began to yawn more than she was speaking, contently sighing as she closed her eyes. She felt David pull the duvet up higher to cover them, and she allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

* * *

It was a scream that woke her, the sound chilling her to her core as she jolted awake. She saw David's face above her, looking concerned and it took her a second to realise the scream was coming from herself. All at once the nightmare that felt so real came flooding back to her and she gripped hold of David's shirt as she saw it for the second time.

"Snow, wake up, its ok." David was frowning and she could feel the deep pressure of his hands on her shoulders as he held her down. It took a few moments for her eyes to refocus properly and when she did she noticed a scratch on his cheek, deep enough that it looked like it would scar. Mary Margaret pushed him away so she could look properly.

"Did I do that?" His silence told her all she needed to know and she gasped, shocked and sad that she had hurt the man she loved. The look of concern on David's face was too much and in that second, the brunette knew that she did not deserve thee people, and she could not stay around them any longer. She twisted her shoulders until he released her, turning away from him, her dream all but forgotten as she mourned what she thought would be the loss of her family.

David didn't speak again until he heard her sobs die down and her breathing even out. He had tried to touch her shoulder but she had shrugged him off, so he merely sat, then lay next to her, watching her. He had been holding a cloth to his cheek to stem the bleeding, discarding it when it had started to clot. It was sore, but there hadn't been a concerning amount of blood, so he figured he wouldn't need stitches. Instead he took a couple of painkillers and placed his hand on his girlfriend's waist, breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't move away from his touch. It sounded like Mary Margaret had just fallen asleep when he heard his bedroom door creak open, and he turned to see his little girl stood in the doorway, reflected in a little light that was coming from her bedroom.

"Daddy…" David tapped the top of the duvet next to him and wrapped his arm around the five year old when she climbed up next to him. "I heard screams daddy, it scared me." David sighed silently and pulled her closer for a hug.

"It's ok sweetheart, Snow just had a bad dream, but she's ok now." With the light from the still open door, David could see the inquisitive look on her face as if she didn't really believe him. It took him a moment to realise that if he could see her face, then she could see his. He tried to move out of the light but he was a moment too late.

"Daddy..!" She sounded overly shocked and if it wasn't a serious situation, David would have laughed at how grown up she sounded. "Did… did she do that daddy?"

"Mary Margaret was having a bad dream and she could not control the way her arms moved. It was an accident and she didn't mean it princess, I promise." He didn't get a verbal response from her but he felt the tips of her fingers gently touch his cheek.

"Daddy if she hurted you then you should make her leave. We don't hit. She can't stay with us if she hitted you." David sighed as he glanced over at Mary Margaret checking she was still asleep.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that sweetheart. You are right, we don't hit, but it was an accident. Snow was sleeping, and she didn't do it on purpose. You know if she hadn't of had a bad dream it wouldn't have happened, and we still love her the same don't we?" Emma nodded, looking past her father at where one of her favourite people lay. "And when we love people we don't get mad when they make mistakes do we?" This time the little girl shook her head, snuggling closer to David, her yawn showing David just how tired she was. "We'll talk about this more tomorrow princess, but for now it's back to bed time ok?"

The little girl stretched as she sat up straight, reaching her arms out for David to pick her up. He stood from the bed and did so, looking down at his girlfriend. "Daddy, what if she hurts you again?" David said nothing is he carried her back to her bedroom with a glance back at Mary Margaret.

The brunette waited until she heard David steps in the hallway before she let her shoulders shake with the sobs she had been holding back. She tried to judge how long it would take for David to return and slid from the bed, slipping on her shoes before picking up her purse and phone. She froze as she heard David leave Emma's bedroom, hoping now the door was closed there was not enough light to show she was not lying in bed and began to move again when the bathroom door closed and the lock clicked. She grabbed David's hoodie from the chair and quickly made her way out of the room going down the stairs quickly. She jumped over the squeaky stair and was out of the door before the bathroom door opened again. She was in her car, trying to start it quietly when she saw the bathroom light switch off upstairs. Without a second glance she started the engine and was out of the driveway, tears already beginning to fall as she drove away from the two loves of her life.


	23. Chapter 21

**20/05 - Quick thanks to Austenphile whose review helped me work out how to move on from the end of the last chapter. There seemed to be a split on how it should go on, but I chose the way that would make me happier to write. Hope you enjoy.**

 **07/08 – I am SO sorry for the long delay, my dissertation has been kicking my ass. I have been working on this chapter since I posted the last one (May 20** **th** **omg) and have literally had like 5 minutes every other week to work on it and so my ideas have been all over the place. I have no idea where I wanted it to go in May and I don't even know where I want it to go from here. I just had an idea for the chapter and ran with it. It's a filler ultimately and I just wanted to get something posted. I have about 5 weeks until my deadline so it might be after then that you get the next chapter. Bear with me.**

* * *

Mary Margaret had only made it to the end of the street when her phone rang and the smiling face of her boyfriend made her sobbing start all over again. It was late and the roads were clear but the brunette knew it would not be safe to drive, so she pulled over and parked on the side of the road. She ignored the call and let it ring, allowing herself to cry for a minute before checking her phone when it went silent for a hotel or a bed and breakfast nearby.

Realising the closest was next to the Mel's she frequented, she took a few more moments to make sure she was safe to drive and was off, her heart clenching when she saw David trying to call her again. This time the call cut off after five rings and almost immediately, the screen lit up with an incoming text. She chose to wait until she arrived at her destination before she checked what he had sent, partly because she knew she needed to be away from them right now, and she didn't want to risk his words sending her right back home.

She parked in the almost empty area behind the diner and inn, and turned the light on in the car, checking her appearance in the mirror. Her eyes were red not just from the lack of sleep and the crying, but the nauseous feeling that had been growing in her stomach since she had woken up. Realising it was a lost cause, the exhausted woman grabbed her phone and made her way inside, more than a little surprised to see Granny sat at the front desk, knitting and looking wide awake.

She tried to turn and leave, determined to find another place to stay, if only for the night, but the bell above the law alerted the older woman to her presence.

"Mary Margaret… What are you…?" The brunette tensed, turning around slowly to face the questioning woman. "Woah there sweetheart, what's going on?" She stood from behind her desk, laying her knitting flat before walking around the desk to wrap the young woman in her arms. Aside from her boyfriend and his daughter Mary Margaret had not made many friends since Ruby left to go travelling and as she couldn't be comforted by David, she relished the feeling of comfort from the older woman. The brunette did not say anything, merely stood, slightly tense as she leant into the hug. Her tears began to fall again as she felt Granny pull back. She tried to hide her face as the old woman peered at her, confusion turning to concern at the tears. "What is going on? Is it David..?" The old woman, whom Mary Margaret had only seen calm and collected as long as she'd known her, was frowning at the way her thoughts had taken her. "Has something happened to Emma?"

The memories of what had happened and what she had heard Emma say earlier that evening bombarded the brunette as she began to feel faint. She held on tighter to her friend's grandmother as her head swam and she heard the faint calling of her name as her knees buckled.

She was only 'out' a matter of seconds, but when she woke she was in a chair in the reception area of the inn, Granny watching her from the front desk, typing into her phone. The brunette stood, ignoring the glares from the older woman as she walked towards her, leaning on the front desk. "I'm sorry about that Granny, I haven't had an episode like that in many years, I suppose the stress of recent events is catching up with me…" Granny managed to disguise the pitying look with one of concern and shook her head as she put her phone down, patting the young woman's hands. Mary Margaret glanced over the desk, breathing a silent sigh of relief as she saw the message she knew the woman would be composing to David had not been sent.

"Emma is fine, Granny, they're both fine." She wanted to tell her more, to explain further but she didn't know how much the old woman knew regarding what had been going on in their lives. She took a quick breath, masking whatever emotions she was feeling as she looked square at the other woman. "I'd like a room please, I don't know yet how long for…" In an instant, Granny was back to her usual, business-like self and she turned around, picking a key from one of her nicer rooms from the hook on the wall. Mary Margaret smiled kindly, turning to go upstairs, following the arrows pointing to them. She turned in the doorway, biting her lip in awkward hesitation.

"If David… could you just not tell him I'm here please Granny…? I'll text him in the morning but just… don't… please." Granny nodded sympathetically, already deleting the text that she had been formulating to David. She was aware of the basic details of what had been going on, the fire and the hospital stay, and she knew that Mary Margaret had been living with David since she left the hospital. It was difficult for her to see Mary Margaret like that. Although she had only known her a matter of months, she had known David ad Emma for a number of years and often felt like they were a part of her family. Mary Margaret had quickly been extended the same honour. The older woman nodded and Mary Margaret smiled gratefully as she turned and made her way up to her room. Waiting until she was out of sight and hearing range, the former army chef picked up her phone, searching her contacts for her granddaughter. She wasn't nosy and she wasn't snooping, she simply wanted to make sure that her family were all doing ok.

Mary Margaret had got to the room and had somehow been unable to sleep and simply lay, rethinking the past few hours over and over. She had eventually cried herself to sleep. She felt like she had just fallen asleep when she was awoken by a knock on the door. Figuring it was either Granny or another guest who had the wrong room and was locked out, she opened the door blearily eyed and blinked in shock, seeing David on the other side, looking almost as bad as she felt. They both stared at each other for a few moments before David took a step forward. Not thinking, Mary Margaret stepped back, noting his pyjamas and red, puffy eyes and lack of small child at his side. She also noted the heartbroken look in his eyes as she evaded his move for physical contact.

"David... what are you doing here…? Did Granny…? Where's Emma?" David shook his head and stepped forward again, reaching for his girlfriend's hand.

"Granny didn't call me. Ruby did. Emma is fine, she's downstairs with Granny…" He took another step forward, shutting the door behind him and she moved to sit on the bed, David following behind her. Mary Margaret sighed as she took in how tired and downbeat her boyfriend looked.

"What are you doing here David?" She was in physical pain seeing how hurt David looked but what hurt more was that she had been so selfish in her own feelings and emotions that she had completely neglected to make sure that David was ok after everything the little family had been going through. She reached for his hand, grasping it in between both of hers. He was watching her but didn't seem to want to tell her what was bothering him. "You need to talk to me David… for this to work we need to communicate." David scoffed and glared at her but he did not remove his hand from hers.

"This coming from the woman who left me and my daughter in the middle of the night." The brunette took a breath, her stomach twisting as she realised the hypocrisy of what she had said.

"I know, you're right, I have no right to talk here." She hesitated, wondering if her plan to get him to talk was selfish. "If I tell you why I left, will you talk to me?"

David paused. He had tried to be strong for his girlfriend and daughter after everything that had happened, but little things had been building up until he found he was unable to stay as strong as he felt he should be. He twisted on the spot so he was facing Mary Margaret fully, removing his hand from her grasp so he could link their fingers. He knew why Mary Margaret had left, at least he assumed, and he hoped she had meant it as a temporary measure until she had felt ready to return, not as a move until her house was ready again. Looking at the love and concern in Mary Margaret's eyes, he finally felt ready to open up to her.

"As you know Mare, I lost my brother, my twin. Before Emma, he was the one person I loved most in the world, that I still love. With Emma's mother there was an affection. I cared for her. But I did not feel that amount of love for her. We have only known each other for a number of months, but I knew, weeks ago, that I would love you more than I've ever loved another woman." He paused, a slight grin crossing his lips as he corrected himself. "Except maybe my mother, but for sure in a different way."

Mary Margaret smiled at his attempt to break the tension and scooted a little closer to him, squeezing his hand for him to continue. "Falling in love with you… having you love Emma as much as you do and starting to think for the first time in five years that I could have a family, it was a shock to my system. Seeing you injured and in hospital, seeing you cry so hard you make yourself sick, hearing that my little girls only wish is to see you smile again, that all hurt me, so much. And if I'm going to be honest with you then I should tell you that… I'm affected by what happened. I never expected to find someone that I would trust to join our family, let alone increase it and I think… I allowed myself to feel happy about the prospect." Mary Margaret knew what he was talking about and the guilt that she had finally stopped feeling, at least regarding that, returned with a vengeance. He glanced up at her and could instantly tell what she was thinking.

"I don't blame you my love, not in any way…" Her sad eyes almost made David feel guilty for laying this all on her but he needed to say what was on his mind. "The point I am trying to make is, I would be open to expanding the family in the future if it is something you want to do, it would be a change to raise a child with someone who wanted to be there for all the dirty nappies and sleepless nights. I … wanted it and it didn't happen and I know it was too soon but…" He didn't need to say anything else, Mary Margaret knew what he was trying to relay and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, uncomfortable but after feeling him relax in her arms, she didn't care.

Her voice was small as she tried to return the sentiment, sharing her feelings as a way of strengthening their relationship. "I left because… I heard what Emma said and she was right… I heard her and I heard you and I cannot put you in that position… I saw what I did to you…" She raised her hand to his cheek, running her thumb along the skin below the cut. "I can't risk hurting you again, or more, or somehow hurting Emma during my nightmares… that's the last thing on this earth I want to do, is hurt you two." She sighed, her head falling to the side as David leaned forward to hug her again and she felt his lips press on her shoulder blade.

"I don't think I can sleep without you by my side my love. I tried and I just… Getting the call from Ruby to ask, and I quote, 'what the balls is going on with you and M&M, why does Granny think she's moved out?' was both wonderful and terrifying because it gave me some clue as to where you were but it suggested what I'd been frantic about… that you'd moved out and left us…"

"I thought that would be the best thing for a while, that you and Emma could have some time alone and I could get a grip on my night terrors…"

"Mare, sweetheart, I can't stand the idea of you having to go through that alone… I know you won't hurt Emma and I can help you deal with it if you want me too…"

The pair continued talking for a while, David pausing to check a text from Granny that informed him Emma had fallen asleep and was currently in the back room of the Inn where Granny was keeping an eye on her and they eventually moved properly onto the bed, both laying side by side, facing each other as they talked, still holding on to the other. They would stay there for the night and Mary Margaret had agreed to return 'home' in the morning. They were both yawning but after the last few hours, David did not want to fall asleep, for fear when he woke, his girlfriend would be gone again. He simply watched her as fatigue overtook her.

Whether it was exhaustion or emotion or just something in his brain that didn't filter what was coming out of his mouth, he moved his hand from her hip, tucking her hair behind her ear, watching her as her breathing seemed to even in sleep.

"Marry me." He regretted saying it as soon as he said it, not because he didn't mean it, he did, but because he knew it wasn't the time and if she was awake and heard, she'd probably wait until he did fall asleep and would run far away. When her breathing remained the same and she didn't speak he breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he had another chance to do it properly, at a better time. He moved closer to her, knowing Emma was safe and Mary Margaret was back in his arms, he allowed his eyes to close and he relaxed as he followed his girlfriend and daughter into dreamland.

He was too far gone in his sleep to see Mary Margaret open her eyes, or feel her press a light kiss to his chin, or to hear her whisper her answer.

"No."

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 **Maybe some reviews will make me motivated to write more?**


	24. Chapter 22

**07/08 -** **25/09 –** **Yes, I realise this is mostly garbage, I've been writing it for so long and to be honest I just wanted something posted to move it on. I'm working out how to do that.** **It took me a while to get back to this story huh? Some of the speech contradicts the previous chapter but in this one it is David being totally honest and vulnerable and no longer concerned about scaring MM off. Shorter than usual cos I just wanted to get something posted. I'm gonna try and get something better up soon but I'm more motivated for my SQ stories right now.**

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David groaned at the shrill sound of the phone as it pierced his eardrums, and he turned his head, the scent of his girlfriend's shampoo assaulting his other sense. Realising where he was and who he was with, he picked up the phone with a disgruntled "What?" He rubbed his eyes and sat up when he heard Granny on the other end.

"I'm sorry David, you asked for a wake-up call at this time." He looked at the clock and saw it brightly displaying that it was 7:30. He groaned and stretched, looking down beside him as his girlfriend stretched in her sleep, wrapping her arm around his waist. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts and staring at the love of his life that he missed what Granny said next. "David, did you hear me?"

"Huh?" He turned his attention back to the call, gently moving a strand of hair from Mary Margaret's face.

"I said that Emma is awake and asking for you." David nodded, stretching his free arm out as he informed the old woman he'd be downstairs shortly, hanging up the phone as Mary Margaret stretched in her sleep. David sighed, knowing that he had to take his daughter home without his girlfriend, that that would be the best thing for all of them. He stood from the bed, ignoring the twinge in his back from how he'd slept as he picked up his phone and wallet and keys from the table next to the bed, debating whether to leave before Mary Margaret woke up, or to wake her himself.

It only took one glance at her for him to make his decision, as he leant forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead, shaking her shoulder lightly to wake the woman.

"Wake up sweetheart…" The brunette smiled tiredly as she woke to her boyfriend's face but it changed quickly when she remembered the previous night. David recognised the look in her eyes and sat beside her quickly, taking her hand. "Don't do that Snow… I can tell what you're thinking and you need to stop…" The brunette tried to smile but found herself unable to as she saw how exhausted David looked. He shook his head as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Listen sweetheart, I need to go and get Emma and take her home. We clearly have things to discuss, do you want to get some more sleep, maybe come over later?" He saw her face drop and quickly back-tracked. "I'm not saying you can't come now my love, but I know last night was long for you and I don't want to stress you out more than you've already been…" He cringed at his own words and stood with a sigh, not wanting to say anything else wrong.

"I'm going to take Emma home, get her some breakfast and then put her to bed. You can come home as and when you wish, if you wish and we can discuss all the things we need to talk about." When she remained silent he sighed again and kissed her once, leaving the room. Mary Margaret buried her head in her hands, unsurprised when she found she had no more tears to cry.

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She waited until she was sure he would have picked up Emma and gone home before she left the room. She'd only taken her purse inside the night before and so didn't have much to take downstairs. She had decided she would stay at the inn, at least for a few days but was going to get a different room, for some reason she was unable to stay in that room. The teacher spent the next few hours unpacking her car and moving into one of the best rooms at the inn. She also contacted the contractors she'd hired to sort her house and made some appointments to get the work done and left a voicemail with her new therapist asking for an emergency appointment, hinting that maybe she may need another appointment, this time for couples.

With that she deemed she had waited long enough and texted David to inform him she would be over and she would be bringing lunch. She felt sick on the way over, not sure what she was supposed to say to David, or if she was supposed to explain to the five year old what had happened, why her night had been so disrupted. She'd picked up subs from the diner, avoiding picking up any sugary treats for fear it would look like she was trying to bribe the child.

When she arrived, the house was quiet. She knocked, and reflected that not even 24 hours ago he had been asking her to move in, and now she didn't even feel comfortable walking in without permission. David quickly opened the door for her, frowning at the formality that she'd not just come in, and gestured in the general area of the house, wanting her to go wherever she was comfortable. She chose the main room and noticed Emma sat at the table, following the sentences in the book she was reading with her finger. The little girl ignored her as she entered and Mary Margaret sighed, moving to sit on the sofa at the other end of the room.

David joined her soon after and hesitated as he saw where she was sitting, not sure whether he should sit next to her or just face her. When he saw the troubled look on her face, he chose to sit next to her, automatically taking her hand, an action meant to comfort both of them. Neither knew where to start, but Mary Margaret knew David had not really had the chance to get his feelings heard and so gestured for him to start.

"I know life doesn't always have a happy ending… I thought when Emma was born, she was my happy ending. I…" David was looking down at their joint hands as he spoke, but Mary Margaret had glanced up at Emma, seeing her look up at the sound of her name. She squeezed his hand and inclined her head at his daughter when he looked up and David smiled as she looked down quickly, pretending she hadn't been eavesdropping. "Hey Em, why don't you go play in your room, maybe later you can read a story to Snow, one that you've been learning, how about that?"

The girl looked happily at her father and nodded as she climbed down from the table. Her smile dropped as she looked at her teacher and she glared as much as a five year old could, causing Mary Margaret to drop her head in embarrassment. When the little girl was safely upstairs, David continued.

"I never expected to fall for someone as quickly or as deeply as I fell for you… I thought Emma was my happy ending and I would have been more than happy with that. But then you came along and you just... you flipped it. You loved Emma and Emma loved you and then I fell in love with you and by some miracle, you felt the same… I thought that was as full as my heart could get. I never thought that…" He paused, releasing Mary Margaret's hand in the fear she would not like what he had to say.

"When you were in the hospital… when Whale told you that were pregnant and I left…"

Mary Margaret looked up, not sure she wanted to hear what David was going to say. "David, I swear… I didn't do it on purpose. I was on a new birth control… a nurse said the St John's Wart that I take for my anxiety could have counteracted it but… I didn't know that until after!"

David squeezed his girlfriend's hand, trying to remain calm. This conversation was a long time coming and he wanted to say what he had been holding back before he lost his nerve. "Snow, it's OK. You don't have to justify… just… please let me finish." He pulled her closer when he noticed her tense and took her hand again, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb gently. When there was no reaction from the brunette he stood, and began to pace.

"I was raised in a loving family. James, my twin, we were inseparable for a long time. We did everything together and I was never lonely because I had him. But the downside of having a twin is that… well we're together all the time and sometimes we disagreed. But I knew that, without him, if I'd been an only child I would have been miserable…I've always wanted a big family." He stopped pacing and looked at the ceiling, as if listening out for Emma. "Don't get me wrong, I love Emma with my whole heart, she's perfect and I'd die without her but… I feel like I have love to spare." He frowned guiltily, as if hearing his words for the first time coming out of his mouth. "I've always wanted kids, plural but seeing you in the hospital, looking so petrified of being pregnant with my child I… it hurt. I didn't want to hear you tell me, tell Whale, basically tell anyone that you didn't want to keep it… I didn't want you to see that on my face and feel that you needed to keep it. Basically, I didn't want to influence your decision…"

Mary Margaret stood and stepped up to him, taking both of his hands in hers. She could hear the emotion that was thick in his throat and she stopped his pacing.

"David… I'm sorry if I took it from you… your child, even your ability to be enthusiastic. I never wanted you to think that I had somehow… trapped you. I love you, you and Emma and I want to be with you, be a family with you… but…" David's head shot up at the word and Mary Margaret noticed, but she didn't let it stop her saying what she wanted to. "But everything has happened so fast. I don't think it's right for me to be living here at this time. I think I will stay at Granny's until my house is ready, and we will date like a normal couple…"

"Snow, I…" She cut him off, standing taller so she could kiss him.

"David, I'll be right across town and then soon I'll be right next door. I'll still be around to watch Emma when you have to work, and we can have dinner with Mulan and Rory and Phillip when they decide. We'll take things one step at a time, ok?" He nodded, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Listen David, if we both mean it… if we're serious and we see a future, it's definitely something we can consider. I'd love to have a little Jamie running around, or a Roni." She couldn't help but giggle at his confused look. "That was Regina's nickname, the one only I was allowed to call her. The point is, when we're ready, when Emma is ready… we can revisit this." David sighed, rubbing Mary Margaret's back as they embraced, questioning how exactly things got so messed up.

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 **25/09 - OH, and I submitted my dissertation on the 20th and therefore finished my degree! Help me celebrate with a review? :')**


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